1. Will AG Bell Association honor its written word (hand written and email text - see below) that it would present AFA's demand statements to its board
2. AG Bell Associtation had a CART transcript made of the AFA and AG Bell Association meeting. AG Bell Association had insisted that AFA not videotape or audio record the meeting. When AFA requested a copy of this transcript - our request fell on deaf ears.
3. AG Bell Association has a position statement saying they recognize American Sign Language (ASL) and accept it yet:
a. the AG Bell academy endorses the AVT guidelines #3 excluding sign language
b. the AG Bell Association offers a scholarship for students to attend a mainstream college / university stating:
Spoken communication must be the student’s primary mode of communication.
c. AG Bell members complained to AG Bell Association president, Jay Wyant, for using sign language in a short video clip at the AG Bell association conference in WI. last summer (See latest issues of AG Bell's Voices)
d. Board member of the PA AG Bell association wrote a harsh editorial criticizing Luke Adams for using ASL and not using his CI in the Amazing Race tv program
AFA's questions for AG Bell Association:
1. will you honor your word and present our demands to your board and give us their decision?
2. will you provide us with a copy of the CART transcript of our meeting?
3. if ASL is accepted and recognized, why haven't you retracted your Pepsi letter (which many of your own members objected to), allow your scholarship award to go to students who use ASL equally, encourage your members to realize that many AG Bell members (Deaf and Hearing) use ASL, communicate to Board members of AG Bell chapters that AG Bell has a position statement in support of ASL and it is inappropriate for them to be publishing letters chastizing Deaf people who use ASL or no longer use their CI
On April 2, 2009 Audism Free America (AFA) met with five members of the AG Bell Association in their Volta Bureau AG Bell Headquarters.
AG Bell Association Executive Director, Alexander Graham, had communications director, Catherine Murphy put in writing that AG Bell Association would be bringing AFA's demand statements to the AG Board. (see above photograph of the written agreement and an email confirming the agreement)
EMAIL from AG Bell Assoc. re: agreement
On Thu, Apr 2, 2009 at 5:18 PM,
Catherine Murphy wrote:
Yes, we are planning to present your three demands statements to the AG Bell Board of Directors.
Catherine Murphy
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Just after 24 hours elapsed AG Bell Association sent out an announcement denouncing Deaf people's right to free speech and assembly. (scroll down for AG Bell's 'immediate release')
AFA has sent emails to AG Bell Association asking if we could have a copy of the CART transcript of our meeting and when they would be presenting our demands to the AG Bell board. We have not received any replies to our email and our certified letter was rejected by AG Bell Association.
Finally AFA sent the below email
fromAudism Free America
toCatherine Murphy
ccAlexander Graham
dateTue, Apr 28, 2009 at 4:40 PM
subjectRe: April 2 Meeting
Greetings:
We have not received any replies to our emails and our certified letter to you was rejected. If we do not receive any email from you by Friday we will interpret these actions to mean:
1. that you are not honoring your word to present our three demand statements to the board (the written agreement and email message below (dated April 2, 2009))
2. that you will not be providing AFA with a copy of the CART transcription from the April 2, 2009 meeting
We look forward to receiving a reply from you.
AFA
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One month has passed since this email was sent - no reply has been made.
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to see emails AFA sent to AG Bell Association re: CART and Board go to:
http://audismfreeamerica.blogspot.com/2009/04/afas-2nd-follow-up-email-to-ag-bell.html
