Know your rights! The Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) sets out requirements for disability access at airports and on airlines. Generally the ACAA rules:

- prohibit U.S. and foreign airlines from discriminating against passengers on the basis of disability;

- require airlines to make aircraft, other facilities, and services accessible; and

- require airlines to take steps to accommodate passengers with a disability.

See the complete PDF document HERE

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to present advocacy efforts by our ALDA membership.

This report is just a sampling of some of the efforts taken by our members at all levels of advocacy.

We, the Advocacy Committee, hope that this report will inspire others to advocate in ways they may not have thought about before.

We hope to hear about other efforts not listed and add them to subsequent reports and articles on advocacy.

Ellen Mastman, an instructor at Foothill College’s Adaptive Learning Division, recently said, “Whether you go into a restaurant, a wedding, whatever, when you are asking for accommodations, you are not only helping yourself, you are paving the way.”

We respectively present this report as a proud reflection of how our ALDA membership has paved the way for those with hearing loss.

It is a true reflection of the Power of One.

Advocacy:

One thing that makes ALDA a unique organization is our strong focus on the need for visual communication; using "whatever works" strategies such as captioning and computer assisted realtime translation (CART), speechreading, sign language, and various kinds of assistive technologies. Advocacy plays an important role in the lives of ALDAns, and we have a long history of leadership in pushing for captioning of television, movies in theaters, DVDs and videos, radio, and video on the Internet. ALDAns have been actively involved in pushing for the professionalism of CART and caption writers. They have helped drive for the approval and expansion of new and better telecommunications relay services such as the captioned telephone (CapTel) and video relay services (VRS). they are involved in ensuring that air travel and health care is accessible. They push for the ability to receive notification of emergencies and for the information during the emergencies, their aftermath, and the recovery period. ALDA is a charter member of the national Deaf and Hard of Hearing Consumer Advocacy Network (DHHCAN) coalition and among the members of the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT) are both our national organization and serveral ALDA chapters. By working side by side with other organizations to achieve our goals, we can do more and have a constant flow of new ideas and eneergy. by advocating for change you can make a difference! Sign up to received E-mail updates current Advocacy Efforts and join in on discussion in our Community Forums.

ALDA International :

ALDA welcomes and encourages members and visitors from worldwide locations. ALDAns outside of the USA currently live in England, Australia, Canada, Finland, Nepal, and Guatemala. ALDA is a voting member of the IFHOH and greets visitors from other countries at the annual Conference.

We encourage visitors to make contact in our Community Forums with others who share your language to forge relationships, live or virtual, outside of the USA borders.

The ALDA International Committee (IC) promotes international sharing and exchange on all matters related to hearing loss. The committee comprises members living in the USA and also abroad. It advocates for intercultural and international communications and relationship-building, via emails and travels.

If you are a late deafened or hard of hearing person traveling to the USA, let us know and we will try to connect you with ALDA members, ALDA Chapter and ALDA Group meetings, all across the U.S. ALDAns also travel the world, and look forward to meeting you in your own country.
 
Volunteers :

ALDA is the only nationally recognized organization supporting deaf or hard of hearing people that is all volunteer; no paid staff. All of our volunteers have been personally touched by late deafness either themselves or someone they know. They are motivated by a passion to bring what they have found in ALDA to others who experience late deafness.

ALDA is always looking for news for the ALDA News, our quarterly member publication, the monthly E-News that will start with this website, advocacy news, advertising managers, web researchers and database creators, letter writers, website content managers, and more. If you have a skill ALDA needs it.

Volunteering for an organization like ALDA lets you be a part of something that is changing lives including yours.

Find out what you can do for ALDA today! Contact Us