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ARKANSAS ASSOCIATION OF THE DEAF
Hello!
My name is Holly Ketchum, and I am your advocate for the Deaf/HH/Deafblind in Arkansas.
Many of you know we need an Agency or a Commission for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Deafblind in Arkansas. We have tried for many years to get funding and support for Deaf Services.
In 2020 our legislative bill to get services was killed in committee. We tried again in a 2022 special session, but we did not get the funding needed.
The Arkansas Legislature will meet again in January of 2025. All of our legislators need to be educated about the need for Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Deafblind services in Arkansas. This needs to happen NOW, a few months before the legislature meets again. Once the legislative session starts, it can be too late to get their attention.
We want it to be easy for you to find out who your legislator is. On the AAD website you’ll see a document titled “Find my Legislators”. This has links to take you to the correct website. All you need to do is type in your address and you’ll find out who is your senator and representative.
Our legislators need to hear from Deaf and Hard of Hearing people themselves. Not everyone likes writing letters in English. A sample letter to your legislator is included named “Deaf Advocacy Cover Letter “. You can make changes to this letter, so it has your name and information. Or if you’d rather, you can make up your own letter.
We have written a document to educate legislators about the services that we need here in Arkansas. It also provides information about Deaf and Hard of Hearing statistics in Arkansas. We are asking the legislature to establish and fund a sustainable Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. You can find this document on our website titled: “Deaf Advocacy 2024”. If you agree, you can attach this document when you email or mail your legislator.
If you support this effort, please send your email or letter to your state senator and your state representative. Be sure to include an attachment (or copy, if you are snail mailing) of the document titled “Deaf Advocacy 2024”.
You can find all three documents on the AAD website.
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Thank you! This is very important work you will be doing. If you have any questions, just ask your AAD officers and we will help.
This video does not have audio. It is provided in ASL and has captions. A full transcript with visual descriptions is below:
[A woman with long red hair signs.]
How do you find your state representative or your state senator?
We’re all citizens. All of us have a right to engage in discussion with our state government. For example, about an improvement, a complaint, or to speak up and have a discussion with them.
In the Arkansas State Legislature members are elected from all around the state. From all the names listed from all around the state, how do you find who is yours?
What is it they do? They help us in Arkansas. Including Deaf, DeafBlind, Hard of Hearing, and Late Deafened. Late Deafened means a person was hearing, but later, their hearing and they became deaf.
The legislature in our state has two parts. The House of Representatives and the Senate. Both of these focus on their particular area of the state. Imagine a map of Arkansas with all of these areas and a long list of names. Each one is focused on a specific area, for instance, a town. These areas are called istricts.
We want to help you find your state representative. To find your state senator, watch this video. It will show the computer screens and clicks to get the correct information and details.
All you need is your home address. That’s it!
The Screen opens with the following lines:
How to find your state representative:
https://www.arkansashouse.org/learn/district-map
The arrow clicks on the link above.
The home page titled State of Arkansas, House of Representatives, District Map appears. This paragraph appears:
The Arkansas House of Representatives has 100 Members, representing 100 separate districts statewide. The Arkansas House of Representatives is dedicated to helping citizens stay informed and involved with their government.
We are pleased to provide you with a quick and easy way to locate the representative from your district. House districts appear outlined in red. Enter your address and/or zip code to view your representative.
Two boxes appear. In one you can type your Street, City, and State. In the other box you type your Zip Code. The arrow clicks on the box labeled “Search”. For the example, the following address is entered: 917 Broadway, Little Rock, 72201.
The screen jumps to an image of a map of Arkansas. In the center of the map is a photo of the representative for that address. Next to the photo is the representative’s information. In this example it is:
Tippi McCollough
Democrat
P.O. Box 250257
Little Rock, AR 72225-0256
501-766-3177
Link to Full Profile
The arrow clicks on the photo or the link to full profile. That automatically jumps to the page with more information about this representative. Her page begins with:
ARKANSAS STATE REPRESENTATIVE
Tippi McCullough
Democrat • 33rd District
93rd General Assembly
Link: Contact Representative McCullough
The arrow clicks on the link to Contact Representative McCullough.
The page automatically scrolls rapidly to the bottom. The full contact information including e-mail address appears there.
Contact Representative McCullough
Tippi McCullough
tippi.mccullough@arkansashouse.org
P. O. Box 250256
Little Rock, AR 72225-0256
501-766-3177
The screen moved to show the information below:
How to find your state senator:
https://senate.arkansas.gov/senators/senator-search/
The webpage is titled Arkansas Senate.
Senator Search
Two boxes are there labeled Street and City.
There is a box labeled Search.
For this example, 917 Broadway and Little Rock are entered. The Search Box is clicked. For this example, the following information appears:
Clarke Tucker
District 32
Seniority 34
Link - (View Full Bio)
District Contact Information
407 President Clinton Ave Suite 201
Little Rock, AR 72201
clarke.tucker@senate.ar.gov
(501) 246-4933
Senate District 32 Map
Small Image of Senate District Map
Button to click to View Map Full Size
[Screen closes and woman appears again.]
If you really have a desire and want to help with improvements, have dialogue and work with your state representative and state senator, you can contact Jeff Prail. Who is that? Jeff is the Legislative Liaison for AAD. Jeff is very knowledgeable and can help you with how to do that.
This video supported in part by Cultivating Community Capacity C3 through a grant from the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, Grant # 210993-21SV.
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