The Virgin Islands University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (VIUCEDD) invites the public to a free virtual American Sign Language (ASL) workshop on Sept. 23 at 6:00 p.m.
“VIUCEDD’s mission is to enhance the quality of life for individuals with disabilities and their families while providing them with the tools necessary for a productive and inclusive community life,” according to the website.
Established in 1994, VIUCEDD has hosted a collection of workshops, summits, and trainings geared toward advocacy and education for some of the community’s most vulnerable citizens and their support systems.
VIUCEDD’s Assistant Director Khalifa Thomas is excited to coordinate the upcoming ASL workshop and believes this initiative has the potential to mitigate communication barriers felt most deeply by the deaf and hard-of-hearing community.
“VIUCEDD was facilitating bi-annual ASL classes until COVID occurred and stymied our efforts. We hope to get the classes up and running again, as we believe these trainings offer an invaluable opportunity for our community to be more inclusive of our deaf and hard-of-hearing population. This one day workshop is an introduction into ASL, with hopes that it’ll generate a larger enrollment for the eight week classes that will be coming online soon. Ultimately our goal is to get people trained,” Thomas said.
Shamika Thomas, executive director of VIUCEDD, is passionate about the contribution VIUCEDD makes to the community. “The work that we do at VIUCEDD is very near and dear to my heart. We are established and fully functioning territory-wide and we act as a liaison that provides tools and resources to the disabled population across the Virgin Islands. Our team is small, but we are a dedicated group of professionals who work tirelessly to create a more equitable living experience for our disabled community,” Thomas said.
While the upcoming ASL workshop has generated a large amount of interest in the community, there are still spaces available for people to sign up. Interested persons can register here.
If anyone has any questions, Khalifa Thomas can be reached at 340-693-1322 or email khalifa.thomas@uvi.edu.
