Communication Access E-Newsletter

Disability and Communication Access Board

 

State of Hawaii

Fall Edition                                      September 2014  Volume 5, Issue 1        

Standing Committee on Communication Access Members 

Chair, Ann Ito 
Vice Chair, Dr. Lucy Miller
Ed Chevy
Tamar Lani 
 
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Disability and

Communication  

Access Board

919 Ala Moana Blvd., Room 101

Honolulu, Hawaii 96814

 

Phone Numbers:

Oahu: (808) 586-8121 (V/TTY)
(808) 586-8129 (Fax)

email:  dcab@doh.hawaii.gov

Maui:  (808) 984-2400

ext. 6-8121

 

Kauai:  (808) 274-3141

ext. 6-8121

 

Big Island:  (808) 974-4000
ext. 6-8121

 

Molokai and Lanai: 

1(800) 468-4644

 

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 DCAB News 

The Disability and Communication Access Board (DCAB) started the new fiscal year with the end of Dr. Lawrence Scadden's term, the retirement of Jan Tateishi from Special Parent and Information Network (SPIN), the return of our summer intern Sidney Li to college and the hiring of a new Program Support Technician, Kamaile Hopfe.

Dr. Lawrence Scadden was instrumental in providing technical advise relating to the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA).  DCAB thanks Dr. Scadden for his full participation and guidance during his four year term.

Special Parent and Information Network (SPIN) Program Specialist Jan Tateishi retired after twenty (20) years of service.  Jan was instrumental in coordinating and planning the annual SPIN conferences.  Her enthusiasm and kind heart, supporting many parents and families who have children with disabilities, will be missed.  We wish her a happy retirement.

Temp summer hire, Sidney Li was home on college break and provided valuable support to DCAB as she created the new Communication Access Providers database of sign language interpreters, real time captioners and note-takers.  Ms. Li also provided support for two other units in our office.  The DCAB wishes her well in her return back to college on the mainland. Thank you Sidney.

On July 1, DCAB welcomed the new Program Support Technician, Kamaile Hopfe.  Ms. Hopfe is a graduate of Kamehameha Schools and Remington College.  She provides administrative support to DCAB's communication access services that includes assisting with the testing of sign language interpreters, aggregating test results, and maintaining the statewide database of communication access providers.  One can hear Kamaile's cheerful voice as she welcomes you in person at our office or on the phone. 

  

 
Kapiolani Community College
Gallaudet University Regional Center

The Kapiolani Community College, Gallaudet University Regional Center closes its doors on September 30, 2014. Gallaudet University, Gallaudet Office for Regional and National Outreach received a 45% reduction in funding. The only Pacific regional center will no longer be available to Pacific islanders who are deaf and hard of hearing. 

The Center provided services, resources, consultation, and training to address the educational, transitional and professional development needs in Hawaii, American Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, the Commonwealth of Northern Marianas, the Republic of Palau and the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The closure is a great loss to our community and the Pacific region.

Kapiolani Community College announced the closure on their website at http://news.kapiolani.hawaii.edu/closure-of-gallaudet-university-regional-center-kcc/

For more information about the program, please contact Gallaudet Office of Regional and National Outreach Director, Lisa Jacobs by phone, (202) 250-2189 or Kapiolani Community College Vice Chancellor Louise Pagotto by phone, (808) 734-9519 or email, pagotto@hawaii.edu.

 
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Department of Justice Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability by Public Accommodation - Movie Theaters:  Movie Captioning and Audio Description 

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making to propose amendments to its regulations for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title III - Public Accommodations relating to movie theaters. 

The DOJ proposes to have movie theaters exhibit movies with closed captioning and audio description at all times and all showings whenever movies are produced, distributed or made available with captioning and audio description unless to do so would result in an undue burden or fundamental alteration. 

In addition, the DOJ proposes to require movie theaters to have a certain number of individual closed captioning and audio description devices.  All advertisements for movie showings must indicate whether they are captioned or audio described.

Comments are due on December 1, 2014.  Comments may be submitted online at http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=DOJ-CRT-2014-0004-0001

or by mail at:

Disability Rights Section 
Civil Rights Division 
U.S. Department of Justice 
P.O. Box 2885 
Fairfax, VA 22031-0885.

To review the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, please visit the U.S. Department of Justice website at:  
For more information about the DCAB's position on the proposed amendments, please contact Charlotte Townsend by email, charlotte.townsend@doh.hawaii.gov or phone, (808) 586-8121. 

 

 
Hawaii Quality Assurance System
Continuing Education Program 

The Disability and Communication Access Board is currently beta testing the new online Hawaii Quality Assurance System (HQAS) Continuing Education Program (CEP) as part of DCAB's effort to create a paper-free and secured website for HQAS interpreters to log their continuing education units (CEUs) in his/her laptop, computer or handheld device.   

 

A small group of current HQAS interpreters who are participating in the program will have an opportunity to provide feedback during the beta-testing mode by the end of the year before it is officially operational by February 1, 2015.    

 

For more information, please contact Kristine Pagano, Communication Access Specialist, by phone at (808) 447-1397 or email, kristine.pagano@doh.hawaii.gov.

 


Free Professional Development Workshops
on October 10 and 11, 2014 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Disability and Communication Access Board welcomes the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), Law and Advocacy Center, Policy Counsel Andrew Phillips to Honolulu, Hawaii on October 10 and 11, 2014.    

 

Andrew Phillips will present, "The Legal Rights of Deaf and Hard of Hearing People" on Friday, October 10 from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.  On October 11 from 8:00 a.m. to 12 noon, Mr. Phillips will present "The NAD - Changing the World One Policy at at Time."  The third session from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. is "Effective Communication: Deaf Consumers Perspectives on Interpreting."   


All three presentations will be held at the Ward Warehouse, Kakaako Conference Room.  There is no charge to register. However, an RSVP is required before October 1, 2014.  Auxiliary aids and services requests are due by September 30, 2014.  Sign language interpreters can accrue continuing education units and the public is welcome to attend. 

 

The DCAB thanks the Hawaii Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, Inc. for the co-sponsorship to provide pupus during the workshop breaks.  

  

For more information, please contact Kristine Pagano, Communication Access Specialist, by phone at (808) 447-1397 or email, kristine.pagano@doh.hawaii.gov.

 

 
Comprehensive Services Center workshops

The Department of Human Services, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR), Comprehensive Services Center (CSC) for Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Deaf-Blind 2014 Session II schedule for September 22 to November 13, 2014 offers eight (8) classes for DVR clients and general public. 

The classes are American Sign Language, Social Skills, Cooking, Cosmetics, English, Fitness and Health, Math, and Technology. 

American Sign Language/Social Skills meets Tuesday and Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Cooking classes will be held on Tuesday from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Cosmetics classes meets Tuesday and Thursday from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

English classes will be held Monday through Thursday from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Fitness and Health classes meets Monday and Wednesday from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Math classes will be held on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Technology classes meets Tuesday and Thursday from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

For more information or to register for the classes, please contact Karl Mikasa by email, CSCKARL@gmail.com.

 
Signs of Self Presents

The Department of Human Services, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR),  Comprehensive Services Center (CSC) contracts with Signs of Self, Inc. (SOS) to provide free community workshops for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Deaf-Blind. 

Signs of Self presents Hawaii Sign Language classes every Tuesday from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. starting September 23 through November 25, 2014.  The classes will be held at the SOS office located at 1481 South King Street, #541 in Honolulu, Hawaii 96814. 

If you are interested to learn about the history of Hawaii Sign Language, please register by contacting Scott O'Neal by email, soneal2signsofself.org, or phone (808) 382-3881 or Rey Natividad by email, natividadrg@signsofself.org or phone (808) 792-1519.

 
Hawaii Sign Language History  

On April 21, 2013, the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Linguistics and various sponsors provided a public presentation about Hawaii Sign Language at the Hawaii School for the Deaf and the Blind. 

The presentation shared the history of Hawaii Sign Language and Hawaii's Deaf.  The general public will have an opportunity to view the program on Olelo television station channel 53.

Olelo will showcase the program in two parts for two months, October and November. 

Part I will be aired four times on October 12 at 3:00 p.m., October 15 at 10:00 a.m., October 22 at 2:00 p.m. and October 18 at 7:00 p.m.

Part II will be aired four times on October 26 at 3:00 p.m., November 2 at 11:00 p.m., November 5 at 10:30 a.m. and November 12 at 7:00 p.m.

Please set your VCR or digital recorder to watch and learn about how Hawaii Sign Language developed and what the community is doing to revive and preserve the language.

 
  
Hawaii Quality Assurance System (HQAS) 

The Hawaii Quality Assurance System (HQAS) was established in 2000 and offers sign language interpreters who do not hold national certification an opportunity to obtain credentials valid within and recognized by the State of Hawaii. 

 

The 2014 test schedule are:

October 27 and 28, 2014
Deadline to apply is October 6, 2014  

 

Two or more candidates who live on the neighbor islands may take the HQAS or HQAS+H test on their respective island, pending available funding.   

 

Congratulations to the following interpreters who recently received their HQAS credentials.

 

Island of Maui 

Robert Revels, Level III 

Lisa Silva, Level III+H
Susan Weber, Level II

Island of Oahu
Rachel Morrison, Level III

For more information, please contact Kristine Pagano, Communication Access Specialist, by phone at (808) 447-1397 or email, kristine.pagano@doh.hawaii.gov.

 
Calendar of Events

  


October 4, 2014
Pacific Basin Rehabilitation Research and Training Center
Comprehensive Service Center for Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Deaf-Blind
Community Meeting
12:00 noon - 3:00 p.m.
Moikeha Building, Room 2A/2B
4444 Rice Street
Lihue, HI 96766

RSVP by October 1, 2014 to Colin Whited by email, cmwhited@hawaii.edu

October 10, 2014 

Department of Health 

Disability and Communication Access Board 

The Legal Rights of Deaf and Hard of Hearing People  

6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. 

The Ward Warehouse - Building D

Kakaako Conference Room, 2nd Floor 

1050 Ala Moana Boulevard 

Honolulu, HI  96814

 

RSVP and request for auxiliary aid or accommodation by October 1, 2014, please contact Kristine Pagano by email, kristine.pagano@doh.hawaii.gov  

 

October 11, 2014 

Department of Health 

Disability and Communication Access Board 

The NAD - Changing the World One Policy at a Time 

8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Effective Communication: Deaf Consumers Perspectives on Interpreting

1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

The Ward Warehouse - Building D

Kakaako Conference Room, 2nd Floor 

1050 Ala Moana Boulevard 

Honolulu, HI  96814

 

RSVP and request for auxiliary aid or accomodation by October 1, 2014, please contact Kristine Pagano by email, kristine.pagano@doh.hawaii.gov

 

October 18, 2014

Aloha State Association of the Deaf

Silent Movie Night 

5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. 

Susannah Welsey Community Center 

1117 Kaili Street  

Honolulu, HI  96816

 

To purchase tickets, please visit Event Brite at  http://www.eventbrite.com/e/in-the-can-by-asl-films-tickets-13194259385?aff=es2&rank=2   

 

For more information, please contact Colleen Cidade by email, asadpresident@gmail.com   

 

October 22-23, 2014 

Department of Health 

Office on Language Access 

U.S. Federal Language Access Law

Agency Compliance Workshop 

8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. 

Queen's Medical Center

Queen's Conference Room 

510 Beretania Street 

Honolulu, HI  96813   

 

Free but you must register on Eventbrite, 

 http://tinyurl.com/LanguageAccessLawCompliance 

 

To request for special assistance or auxiliary aids and/or services to participate in this event, please contact the Office on Language Access at (808) 586-8730 or email, ola@doh.hawaii.gov

 

For more information, please contact Office on Language Access by phone, (808) 586-8730    

 

October 30, 2014

Hawaii Civil Rights Commission (HCRC) and  

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission  

EEO Updates and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Discrimination Issues in the Workplace

7:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Blasidell Exhibition Hall

Pikake Room

777 Ward Avenue

Honolulu, HI  96814 

Registration: $25.00

Parking:  $6.00

 

To register, please download the application at  

 http://labor.hawaii.gov/hcrc/hcrc-news/hcrc-october-30-2014-annual-public-training/ 

For more information, please contact HCRC  

by phone (808) 586-8659  

 

November 18, 2014  

Department of Health 

Disability and Communication Access Board

Standing Committee on Communication Access

Meeting

9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Queen Lili'uokalani Center for Student Services

Room 012

2600 Campus Road

Honolulu, HI  96822

 

For more information, please contact DCAB by phone, (808) 586-8121 or email, dcab@doh.hawaii.gov  

 

December 6, 2014

Hawaii School for the Deaf and the Blind

Winter Festival

10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

3440 Leahi Avenue

Honolulu, HI  96815 

Free Admission 

 

 

 

 


About the Disability and Communication Access Board (DCAB)

 

The mission of the DCAB is to advocate and promote the full integration, independence, equal access, and quality of life for persons with disabilities in society.