Friday, July 12, 2013

AFA L.A. Rallies Schedule - Tentative


“I hope that we all will love and guard our beautiful sign language as the noblest gift God has given to deaf people.” 
~ George W. Veditz (1913)

Note - schedule is subject to change

July 18, 2013 Thursday 5pm - 9 pm 
AG Bell LSL Symposium
Omni Hotel 251 South Olive street, Los Angeles, CA 
Peaceful protest of the AG Bell LSL (language and spoken communication) which mandates Deaf children be denied visual acuity and American Sign Language

July 19, 2013 Friday 10:00 am to 12 pm 
Advanced Bionics 
28515 Westinghouse Place, Valencia, CA 
Peaceful protest against Advanced Bionics – a cochlear implant company which has been find by the Food & Drug Administration, sued by parents for $7.25 million dollars for shocking their Deaf daughter due to a leak in the seal of the internal part and had numerous recalls of past devices (one of which has a positioner for the internal part near the brain and lead to infections and deaths)

2:30pm to 430pm 
House Research Institute
2100 W. 3rd Street LA, CA Peaceful protest of this institute which advocates for eradicating Deaf people and promotes a “medical cure” over language and cultural opportunities and rights.

530pm to 9pm 
John Tracy Clinic
806 West Adams Blvd Los Angeles, CA 
Vigil in memory of Deaf children who have suffered under the John Tracy Clinic’s method which denies sign language and visual acuity.

July 20, 2013 Saturday 10:30 am to 3 pm 
AG Bell LSL Symposium 
Omni Hotel 251 South Olive street, Los Angeles, CA 
Peaceful protest of the AG Bell LSL (language and spoken communication) which mandates Deaf children be denied visual acuity and American Sign Language

July 20, 2013 Saturday 7pm to 10pm
Deaf Victories Forum 
UCLA, 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90095
DODD Building – Room #170 
(http://maps.ucla.edu/campus/) and type "DODD BUILDING" and you will see the building on the map.
Presentations and closing of the L.A. Events
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Audism Free America’s Three Demands:
AGBell Association, John Tracy Clinic, House Research Institute, and Advance Bionics stop excluding a natural and fully accessible language (American Sign Language - ASL) from Deaf children, and
Stop misinforming the public and the media about Deaf people, and 
Stop the incestuous relationship with cochlear implant manufacturers and
LSL programs.

Resources:
-the ASL petition to the White House officially recognize ASL as a community language and language of instruction in schools (see https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/officially-recognize-american-sign-language- community-language-and-language-instruction-schools/CRPw2JLk)
-the movement toward ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities which would ensure justice and equality for Deaf infants, youth and adults in areas of expression, access, education, and employment (see: http://audismfreeamerica.blogspot.com/2012/07/urge-ur-us-senators-to-ratify-un- crpd.html).
-the 2010 International Congress on the Education of the Deaf’s historical announcement rejecting an 1880 resolution banning sign language in the education of the Deaf people. In addition, the Congress expressed regrets concerning the 130 years of detrimental effects of this resolution and called upon all nations to ensure a new era of respecting all languages and promoting collaboration with Deaf citizens (see: http://deafbc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/ICED-Document.pdf)
The linguistic, cultural and human rights of Deaf children have been asserted by a number of International bodies including the United Nations (UN), the World Health Organization/World Bank (WHO), the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD), and the International Convention on the Education of the Deaf (ICED). (see http://audismfreeamerica.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-12-30T17:45:00- 05:00&max-results=5&start=5&by-date=false