Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Awareness Resources

For a list of UMC agencies and churches with Deaf/HOH accommodations, check here.

Awareness Events | Associations | Culture | History | ADA resources | Health and Safety

Deaf Awareness Events

• March 13-April 15: Deaf History Month
• May: Better Speech and Hearing Month
• September: Deaf Awareness Month and Week
• The last Sunday in September is International Day of the Deaf. International Week of the Deaf is the last Monday through Sunday of the month.
• Deaf Awareness Week Activities for Churches
• Deaf Awareness Sunday guide (January 2018)
  Microsoft Word Large Print Microsoft Word Adobe PDF
• October: Audiology Awareness Month

1: Associations

• Association of Late-Deafened Adults
• Deaf Inc.
• Deaf Seniors of America
• Hearing Loss Association of America
• National Association of the Deaf
• State Agency list from National Association of State Agencies of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
• National Institute on Deafness and Other Communications Disorders, NIH
• National Deaf Center
• Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf
• World Federation of the Deaf
• Deaf Linx provides insights on various perspectives of the Deaf community.
• Deafdigest offers a weekly newsletter that shares what is happening among Deaf people, whether it's places that do accommodations right, new products, captioned and signed videos, job announcements, and even comics. You can read online, receive a weekly e-mailed newsletter or you can subscribe to an RSS feed.
• We Connect Now: uniting college students with disabilities in access to higher education and employment issues.
• Boy Scouts of America ® Disabilities Awareness Merit Badge

2: Culture

• "7 Misconceptions About People with Hearing Loss" by Janice Lintz, a useful etiquette checklist
• “Is there a right way to be Deaf?” New York Times (November 2019)
• Deaf, Deafhood, Deafness: a captioned and signed video that explains the meaning and difference.
  
• How to explain hearing loss to the uninitiated, Shari Eberts for Living with Hearing Loss (March 2020)
• What is it like to be Deaf?
  
• “Can You Read My Lips?”: captioned video from Little Moving Pictures on Vimeo that shows what it's like being Deaf.
  
• "The Quiet Life: How different the world is without hearing": an interesting nuance of the Deaf and deaf worlds from Gizmodo.
• Protecting and Interpreting Deaf Culture
  
• A Road Map for those new to Hearing Loss
• I'm Hard of Hearing... Now What?
  

3: History

• Deaf history resources at Library of Congress
• Deaf history timeline
• “A Brief History of Deafness” Time, a reprint of “No longer deaf to the past” at History Today (2015)
• “Sign Language, Deafness, and Exclusion in Renaissance England”, Rosamund Oates (September 2021)
• “Playing It By Ear: My Father's Education”, an article from Forbes that includes TTY history (2014)
• A review of Words Made Flesh: Nineteenth-Century Deaf Education and the Growth of Deaf Culture

4: ADA Resources

• Workforce GPS: Workplace Resources for the Deaf
• Employees with Hearing Disability: Know Your Rights from Hearing Health and Technology Matters
• "Requesting Interpreter" video from Great Lakes ADA center (ASL and caption).
  
• Age, Hearing Loss, and Communication: What Are My Rights? (ADA Network)
• Archived ADA webinars
• On-demand ADA training

5: Health and Safety

• 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline ASL service
• National Deaf Domestic Violence Hotline, 855-812-1001 (Voice/VP) for videophone calls or voice phone calls
• Covid-19 Information from CDC
  
• Making Emergency Alerts Accessible for People with Hearing Disabilities, Rocky Mountain ADA Center (March 2020)
• Emergency Preparedness for Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Katherine Bouton
• Indianapolis Fire Department program for Deaf alarms: WTHR report, IFD request form. Similar programs exist in other places.
• Preparedness for People who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing (ASL and captions), Connecticut Department of Public Health
  
• Emergency Preparedness from National Association of the Deaf.
• Emergency Preparedness Videos in ASL from the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (principles are applicable to all states).
• First Responders and the Deaf, an article for first responders that also outlines ADA protections.
• Emergency Preparedness Kit for Deaf (ASL)
  
• Home Escape Planning and Fire Safety, National Fire Protection Association (ASL, caption, voice)
  
• PSAP Text-to-911 Readiness (where you can text to 911)
• How to text to 911 (NENA)
  
• Weather and All Hazards Radio for Deaf and Hard of Hearing from National Weather Service
• Alerting Devices for people with hearing loss from Living With Hearing Loss
• The Deaf Network of Texas has published a list of "Helpful Emergency Preparedness Apps for Smart Devices" that includes hurricane trackers, traffic and weather alerts, weather radio, The Weather Channel, FEMA assistance and preparedness information, and shelter information
• Deaf Health: ASL videos explaining illnesses, tests, and a directory of Deaf-friendly doctors.
• National Deaf Therapy links ASL therapists with Deaf clients; background information from The Mighty
• Interacting with Police