AFA: International Day of Sign Language Celebration 2009

*International Day of Sign Language Celebration*


Greetings, AFA thrilled to share with all of you about IDSL- The International Day of Sign Language Celebration. Some states in USA are hosting events to celebrate IDSL to demonstrate how much we cherish our sign languages. In California, there are different local events being planned in celebration of IDSL. . CAD- California Association of the Deaf just made a vlog about IDSL/ASL and you can look at it on YOUTUBE. All of the IDSL events celebrate all that is awesome and inspiring about ASL!

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International Day of Signed Languages! How to celebrate? Start with this video below....

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owgBcuRoM3U

  o if you participate in a coffee shop gathering or Deaf
  Professional Happy Hour, take some time to discuss ASL
  o wear black shirt and/or a blue ribbon
  o host a Blue Ribbon Ceremony with others. Text for the ceremony can be found at
  the back of Ladd's book, Understanding Deaf Culture: In search of Deafhood
  o share ASL poems or stories--live or on film
  o Twitter and post in your Facebook notes to remind everybody to take
  a pause and appreciate, smell, see, feel, love our glorious
  language(s) and the people who created them.

  Share this with folks you know.

  CAD board 2009-2011
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In California, the California Department of Education (CDE) in Sacramento is hosting Deaf Awareness Week by State Superintendent of Public Instruction- Jack O'Connell. DAW will educate and expose people to information about ASL as a language and Deaf culture.

http://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/re/et/

  The Deaf Awareness Week activities are being coordinated by Andrew Laufer, an Education Administrator with CDE’s Special Services and Support Branch that houses the State Special Schools and Services Division. The free activities this week at CDE include a poster contest, lobby displays, a student skit developed by Deaf students, panel discussions, and a film about Deaf culture.

For more information on the Deaf Awareness Week activities, please contact the Communications Division at 916-319-0818 or visit http://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/re/et/. For more information on the California School for the Deaf, Riverside, please visit http://csdr-cde.ca.gov/ or for the California School for the Deaf, Fremont, please visit http://www.csdf.k12.ca.us/
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Also, in San Diego, California- Jon Lenois, who has interviewed with Bruno Moncelle about his vision of International Day of Sign Language (IDSL) celebration, is involved with DAW (Deaf Awareness Week) in San Diego to spread information about ASL, Deaf culture, and to gather to celebrate Deaf unity. There is his vlog you can watch--

Bruno Moncelle being interviewed by Jon Lenois can be viewed at:- http://www.deafvideo.tv/56955

Jon Lenois shared about DAW event- http://www.deafvideo.tv/60051

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There is another local event in the east--specifically, here in Rochester, New York. We will have IDSL celebration this coming Saturday, September 26th. It will be at NTID's Panara theatre on the NTID/RIT campus and people are invited to come to join us in celebrating ASL. We will also have guests speakers--- some discussing differnt International Sign Languages, ASL performances, ASL poetry, and Deaf folklore. It will start at 3pm and last until 7pm. This will include a celebratory march beginning at 5pm. We will walk together in deep thought--about the preciousness of ASL, about how we cherish our eyes, hands, signs-- through vision, smell, feelings.... We also need to express our thanks and gratefulness to our Deaf ancestors who have passed down to us our glorious language.


IDSL is to inspire people to stand up and to appreciate our treasure of language--our glorious gems...that can ripple out to all people and ensure that our sign languages will be protected for future generations...

Let freedom Roll!!

PS Let me show you something that expresses how I really cherish ASL and wish to spread this passion for the IDSL celebration--

"LOVE in our ASL hands"