The Reichhold Center for the Arts will host special performances Sunday, the culmination of a week of activities that began Monday, proclaimed by Gov. Charles W. Turnbull as Deaf Awareness Week in the Virgin Islands.
An evening of entertainment by deaf performers begins at 8 p.m., including headliner CJ Jones, "The Living Cartoon"; Fred Beam & the Wild Zappers Hip Hop Dancers; and Miss Black Deaf America, LaToya Plummer from Washington, D.C.
According to Gwendolyn Powell, Executive Director of Work Able, Inc.,
several means of communication will be employed during the week of activities. There will be voice interpreters, ASL interpreters and Computer Aided Real-time captioning.
The week's events were planned in recognition of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, according to Powell.
"Our primary objective, in addition to helping the Virgin Islands become compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act, is to help eliminate the communications barriers that exist for persons who are deaf or hard of hearing," said Powell, who is partially deaf.
Work Able, Inc. (WAI) in 1999 celebrated 10 years of providing supportive employment services to the most severe persons with disabilities in the Virgin Islands, Powell said. Work Able, Inc. along with Virgin Islands Black Deaf Advocates are the primary sponsors of the week long activities.
The week's events include the first Caribbean conference on deafness in the U.S. Virgin Islands Friday through Sunday. The opening reception is at 5:30 p.m. Friday at the Windward Passage Holiday Inn. A public forum will follow with a keynote address on the "Status of Disability in General, and Deafness in Particular" by Dr. Ernest Hairston of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education & Rehabilitation Services.
On Saturday morning at the University of the Virgin Islands Chase Auditorium, Laurene Gallimore, assistant professor of Deaf Education at Western Oregon University will start the day with a presentation entitled "Diversity: The Change of Heart." Claudia Gordon, staff attorney at the National Association for the Deaf (NAD) Law Center, will deliver the keynote address on "Rights and Responsibilities: Advocate for Yourself." Hairston, Gallimore and Gordon are all deaf.
According to Executive Director Powell several means of communication will be employed during the week of activities. There will be voice interpreters, ASL interpreters and Computer Aided Real-time captioning (CART). Conference registration will begin Friday at 3:00 p.m. and continue at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday.
For more information, call 774-5899.
