American Sign Language Teachers Association

August 8, 2010

Please participate by voting on the newly revised Bylaws of the ASLTA by a mail ballot and then mail it to:

on or before August 31, 2010. Your vote is very important to all of us. Each vote counts. Thank you very much.

August 8, 2010

RE: Delegate Larry Forestal’s Short Report on the Biennial NAD Conference in Philadelphia on July 6-10, 2010

1. The conference was well attended by NAD members and friends of all ages. One thing that impressed me most was that a very large number of young deaf people attended, participated and took the lead on the stage as well as behind the scenes. Many of them were first timers. At least 1,300 were registered.
2. ASLTA’s $2,000 contribution to the NAD was acknowledged with our full page advertisement. In addition, the NAD recognizes the ASLTA as one of the significant conference sponsors (Stars & Stripes Sponsor).
3. The Council of Representatives (CR) approved twenty (20) top priorities for next two years (2010-1012). Delegate Forestal’s two motions for the National Deaf History Month and ASL as a language by federal legislation were combined into one major motion carried as the seventh priority of the NAD.
4. One motion to change the Library Friends Section (LFS) to the Culture and History Section (CHS) was approved as the 20th priority by the CR. NAD President Bobbie Beth Scoggins has asked me to draft a two-year plan for the newly named section. I will share this matter with you.
5. On behalf of the CHS I am task force chair for strategies of preserving deaf museum, ASL and history working with Cathy Haas at Stanford University.. A short survey has received a good number of responses from the NAD Region I, II, III and IV delegates during the conference. One finding shows that we have about 20 museums for the deaf across the nation, mostly located in the schools for the deaf. I will share survey results in the near future.
6. President Scoggins and Vice-President Chris Wagner were reelected. Further details about other NAD Board members will be provided in my full report.
7. The NAD Board has appointed Howard Rosenbaum of Chicago as a new chief executive officer (CEO). Since CEO Nancy Bloch will step down on March 31, 2011, she will certainly work with Rosenbaum for a smooth transition.
8. Miss Deaf Illinois – Rachel Mazique won the Miss Deaf America Pageant with Miss Deaf Pennsylvania – Victoria Flis as a first runner-up and Miss Deaf Maryland – Celine Daze as a second runner-up. Rachel Mazique is presently an English major at the University of Texas. There were eleven contestants.
9. In the College Bowl Gallaudet University won the fourth straight championship with the NTID/RIT second by only two points and CSUN third.
10. There were about 70 workshops. I made a PowerPoint workshop presentation: “Traits of Deaf Leadership” for one hour on Thursday, July 8th. There was a very good turnout of at least 60 people. ASLTA PDC Arkady Belozovsky also presented a workshop: “Whose ASL is it? Is ASL Culturally and Linguistically Diverse?”
11. On Saturday evening, July 10th a closing banquet took place in honor of departing CEO Nancy J. Bloch. A live auction helped the NAD raise approximately $15,500.
12. Louisville, Kentucky will be the next NAD conference site on July 3-7, 2012.
13. You can browse into: www.iDEAFNEWS.com for additional information. You can also see some filming of the conference. Also, look into: www.nad.org.

TBA