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VOLUME 41, NO. 8
AUGUST, 2023
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KCDHH Executive Director Search
Underway
The Kentucky Commission on Deaf and Hard of Hearing (KCDHH) is
seeking an Executive Director to serve at the direction of the Board of
Commissioners to carry out the mission of the agency.
The KCDHH’s mission is to provide effective and efficient leadership,
education, advocacy, and programs to eliminate barriers and to meet the
social, economic, cultural, and intellectual needs of deaf and hard of
hearing Kentuckians.
This position will be responsible for creating, promoting, and
maintaining the agency philosophy of inclusion and fairness for all
individuals regardless of hearing identity and communication choice. To
apply, visit the Team Kentucky Personnel by clicking here. Deadline to apply is September 3.
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KCDHH Commissioners Add Emeritus
Members
The Kentucky Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (KCDHH)
recently added a new category of delegates to the Commission Board known as
Emeritus members. Emeritus members are highly respected individuals who
have served on the KCDHH board. These delegates primary purpose will be to
support, advise, and provide expertise to the Board.
KCDHH’s first-ever Emeritus members include Amy Hatzel, Catlettsburg,
who has served on the Board in various positions, and Dr. Patricia Freeman,
Lexington, who has also served on the Board.
Each will serve one-year terms.
The Board also recognized members whose terms expired, which also
included Hatzel and George “Buzzy” Tunstall IV, from Louisville. They were
presented with certificates of appreciation, signed by Governor Beshear.
See the presentations below: Photographed left is Board Chair, Dr. Tommy
Evans, presenting to Amy Hatzel, and right is Evans presenting to Buzzy
Tunstall.
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DeaFestival Rappers
Changing What It Means for Music to
be Heard
 In April
2023, DJ Supalee hosted Supafest
Reunion 2023 to celebrate entertainers and promoters within the U.S. Deaf
community. The event included performances by several from Kentucky’s
DeaFestival lineup, including R&B artist and rapper Sho’Roc, photo bottom
left, and female rapper Beautiful The Artist, see photo
left.
As hip-hop
reaches its 50th anniversary, five decades of its cultural impact
reverberates in mainstream and underground settings. In 2005, the rapper Warren “Wawa” Snipe came up
with the term “DIP HOP” in ASL and English to classify a developing style
of rap music within the Deaf community. In 2010, Detroit-based rapper and
National Technical Institute for the Deaf alumnus Sean Forbes, signed a
contract with WEB Entertainment and released the single “I’m Deaf,”
attracting mainstream attention to this style of rap. Both Snipe and Forbes
perform at KCDHH’s biennial DeaFestival. Read more about deaf rappers history here.
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Kentucky CHFS
Caregiver Program Expanded
 Governor
Andy Beshear announced that due to record budget surpluses and the largest Rainy Day Fund in state history, the Kentucky Caregiver
Program will be expanded to all Area Development Districts. The
program, established in 2006, was designed to support grandparents of any
age who are raising grandchildren and who meet income and other guidelines.
Grandparents raising a grandchild can find out if they are eligible to
apply by contacting their local Area Development District or the Department for Aging and Independent Living in the
Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS).
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Kentucky Sports Wagering
Opens September 7
 One month
after announcing that sports wagering will open in Kentucky September 7 at
retail locations and September 28 for mobile applications, Gov. Andy
Beshear said the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) has received applications
from seven of the state’s licensed racetracks. They include Churchill
Downs, Louisville; Cumberland Run, coming soon to Corbin; Ellis Park,
Henderson; Oak Grove Gaming and Racing, Oak Grove; The Red Mile, Lexington;
Sandy’s Gaming and Racing, coming soon to Ashland; and Turfway
Park, Florence. Applications are being reviewed by KHRC staff and will be
voted on at a meeting of the full commission August 22. For more
information about sports wagering, visit KHRC.ky.gov.
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BlueOval SK Now Hiring for
Battery Plant in Hardin County
 BlueOval SK battery
plant in Hardin County is searching for prospective employees. The company
is building two plants to provide batteries for Ford and Lincoln electric
vehicles – one in Glendale (Hardin County) and another in Tennessee.
Construction is on schedule at the two massive battery manufacturing facilities
that will be capable of collectively producing more than 80 gigawatt hours
annually. When completed, BlueOval SK’s two
battery plants at the site will each measure approximately 4 million square
feet each. They will also train 5,000 new workers at this new training
center, located on the 1,500-acre BlueOval SK
Battery Park site. For more information on employment, click here.
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UK Cannabis Center Sponsors
Seminar on Medical Cannabis
 Medical cannabis becomes legal in
Kentucky on July 1, 2024, after the passage of legislation this year by the
General Assembly, so The University of Kentucky (UK) Cannabis Center is
sponsoring a series of seminars featuring national and international
experts on cannabis science. This series is to give UK students, faculty
and the general public the chance to hear cutting-edge cannabinoid science
across a wide variety of specialties (medicine, pharmacology, public
health, impaired driving science, agriculture, legal and social justice). The
seminar is co-sponsored by the UK Center for Health Equity Transformation,
and will be held via Zoom on Tuesday, Aug. 22, from 11 a.m. to noon, (ET).
It is open to all, and you can register online here.
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Annual
Deaf Awareness Day at Louisville Zoo, August 19
 The 5th Annual Deaf Awareness
Day at the Louisville Zoo will be Saturday, August 19. Discounted tickets
are available for friends and family members: children (ages 3-11) $12
each, adults (ages 12-59) $17 each, seniors (ages 60+) $12 each. Children
under two years of age are free. If you have a child who is deaf or hard of
hearing and is a Kentucky resident, your child will also receive a free
ticket. Pre-register before August 18. Email info@kyhandsandvoices.org for more information.
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Meet Dougie, Bluey’s First Deaf Character Who Signs
The story goes like this; Bingo
finds a toy turtle at the playground and wants to take him home, but Dad
says it’s not the done thing. What if his owner comes back to find him?
Later, Dougie and his Mum also play with Turtleboy
and decide to leave him there too. But Bingo and Dougie both love playing
with Turtleboy so much that they start to hide him
… and so it plays out.
Bluey is an Australian animated
preschool television series which premiered on ABC Kids on 1 October 2018.
The show follows Bluey, a anthropomorphic six-year-old
Blue Heeler puppy who is characterized by her abundance of energy,
imagination and curiosity about the world. The young dog lives with her
father, Bandit; mother, Chilli; and younger
sister, Bingo, who regularly joins Bluey on adventures as the pair embark
on imaginative play together.
Now in this Bluey first, we’ve
been treated to an additional layer of meaning in Turtleboy.
Newcomer Dougie, based on a cavoodle, is
profoundly deaf and uses Auslan to communicate
with his mum (voiced by Miranda Tapsell).
To authentically create each Auslan
interaction between Dougie and his mum, Ludo collaborated with consultants
from Deaf Connect; Australia’s largest provider of whole-of-life support
for the Deaf, hard of hearing and deafblind communities. To watch the Bluey
episode, click on the graphic below.
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American Sign Language Interpreter:
Two Positions Open
The New Albany Floyd County - Consolidated School Corporation in
Indiana is currently seeking two American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters
to fill two positions. For more information, visit the school site here.
Deaf Peer Support Specialists Sought
Are you Deaf? Hard of Hearing? A child or sibling of a person who
is Deaf or Hard of Hearing? Do you have experience with mental health or
substance misuse? Would you like to help other people live a full and happy
life? The Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental, &
Intellectual Disabilities (DBHDID) is partnering with Bridgehaven
to recruit and train up to five people to work with individuals who are
Deaf, Hard of Hearing, DeafBlind, or DeafDisabled. To watch an ASL signed video, click here. To request an application, contact Michelle Niehaus at michelle.niehaus@ky.gov or call or text 502-892-9122 or leave a message on VP at
502-385-0460.
DeafBlind Employment Specialist Position Open
A DeafBlind Employment Specialist
position is open with Helen Keller DeafBlind
Services in Louisville. The primary focus will be to provide one on one
services to consumers to assist with achievement of employment outcomes,
with a commitment to a fully inclusive community-based environment. For
more information, visit here.
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Deaf Sober Gathering, Lexington, August
26
 The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services and Deaf Peer Support Kentucky will host a Deaf Sober Gathering on Saturday, August 26, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Voices of Hope, 644 N. Broadway, Lexington. For more information, email rondeafcpss@gmail.com or click here for the flyer.
NAD Leadership Conference, September
21-23
 The National Association of the Deaf’s
(NAD) Leadership Training Conference (NLTC) is September 21-23 in
Albuquerque, NM and is designed to provide deaf and hard of hearing
people and hearing allies with the best workshops, training, and
interactions to promote improved leadership skills for many purposes:
employment advancement, organizational operation, and interpersonal
interaction. Register here by August 31.
Stanford
Students Create AI Glasses that Transcribe Speech in Real-Time for Deaf
People
 People with hearing
loss and deaf people communicate in many ways—sign language, lip reading,
hearing aids, etc. However, methods such as hearing aids and cochlear
implants can be very expensive to acquire. Meanwhile, signing and lip
reading require eyes on the speaker. TranscribeGlass is the answer for
“comfortable wearable assistive technology device for deaf, hard of
hearing, elderly, and other people who want to improve their
comprehension of spoken communication using captions,” according to My
Modern Met. This startup founded by a Stanford/Yale student pair is
creating a new way for everyone to engage in the conversation. Read more here.
Deaf
Concertgoers Feel Musical Vibrations Through Haptic Suits
 In the presence of
the violins, their reverberating melodies resonate within the ribcage,
while the cello and bass notes are felt slightly lower, and the horns'
majestic sounds seem to echo in the shoulders. Frequently, the soloists'
performances are perceived in the wrists, completing the symphonic
experience. That's one-way audio expert Patrick Hanlon programs haptic
suits, designed to enable concertgoers who are deaf or hard of hearing to
experience orchestral music as initiatives to improve inclusivity at live
music performances break new ground. Read more here.
PLEASE VISIT KCDHH’S
IF YOU HAVE AN EVENT
YOU’D LIKE TO LIST ON THE CALENDAR, PLEASE EMAIL US AT: kcdhh@ky.gov
KCDHH Resources:
KCDHH
KCDHH’s Telecommunications
Access Program (TAP)
Landline or wireless
equipment for Kentucky residents who are deaf, hard of hearing, speech
impaired, or have both a hearing and vision loss.
KCDHH Commissioners
KCDHH Staff
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