September 2, 2005
I am writing on behalf of Silent Voice staff, consumers and clients. I understand the human rights action that has come to fruition by Gary Malkowski, Scott Simser and Nancy Barker, and am in complete support of this action.
At Silent Voice, we strive to create a productive family environment for the Deaf community. We accomplish this through various programs and services at Silent Voice, all directed at working with families that have a deaf member, be it a parent, child or extended family member.
Through our Deaf Parenthood Project, we encourage deaf parents to involve themselves with activities in which their children show an interest; in our Family Communication Program, we promote parents of deaf children to involve their children in their everyday lives with language and support, and teach parents the issues that are important to their children; at our Sign Language Summer Program, we understand there is a need for common ground with siblings, when one is deaf and the other is hearing; in our Youth Group, we see a strong need for appropriate social entertainment for deaf youth. In all of these situations, family outings are a key factor.
Therefore, it behooves Silent Voice to support the action of these members of the Deaf community. With equal access across the movie theatre industry, deaf people are able to not only enjoy entertainment, but are able to enjoy this with family and friends, establishing bonds and a common area of interest.
Imagine the conversation that a family with a deaf child may have after watching a movie that has two perspectives - it excites me to think of that type of conversation - the inclusion of the deaf child into the family is the mission and the work of Silent Voice, and therefore, I endorse the human rights action and the legal efforts to secure captioning in movie theatres.
Sincerely,
Maureen Haan
Executive Director, Silent Voice