2019 Deaf Seniors of America Conference
[Transcript]
MELISSA ELMIRA YINGST:
I’m here at DSA, Deaf Seniors of America, in Seattle, Washington!
About 900 senior citizens have come here this week to network, see old friends, to make new friends and at the same time, they’ve come together to have a conversation about different issues that the senior citizens face today.
VAN SCHEPPACH:
Senior citizens come here to bring awareness to our most urgent needs from all of the United States. Some states do not offer certain services for some senior citizens that other senior citizens receive. We have no communication access in rural areas. There are many limitations that lead to more lonesome environments. They miss out on getting together with friends. So that’s why we’re trying to develop a program called Human Connection. It’s where you can get in touch with senior citizens and bring them out of these lonesome environments. Through this project, we can offer opportunities to live happier lives.
MELISSA ELMIRA YINGST:
Indeed.
FEMALE ATTENDEE:
This will be my 10th DSA conference that I’ve been to. I enjoy going to DSA conferences because it’s educational and I look at the older people as my role models. I can meet old friends and make new friends as well.
CAROLYN GOMEZ:
I’ve learned plenty about our senior citizens. I do admit that I’ve accepted myself as a senior citizen. I’m proud to be one too!
MELISSA ELMIRA YINGST:
I feel like this is a big reunion for everyone!
ELLEN SCHEPPACH:
Yes! That’s a good word to use!
But at the same time, there’s a lot of people who I’ve never met! Many of them come here to say that they’re so excited about the conference this week!
MELISSA ELMIRA YINGST:
I know that I will leave with all that I’ve learned here and with the realization of how we need to do more with senior citizens.
ELLEN SCHEPPACH:
Oh yes! You might feel like we’re a new brand. No, it’s not. I feel like I’ve known these senior citizens for about 20 years now, but I’m still going to work towards addressing what senior citizens need and will need in the future.
MAXIM FOMITCHEV:
I was really impressed with the deaf senior citizens in attendance. I can feel how alive they are and how invested they are in their communities. I feel that part of that is because it’s my and your future too!
MELISSA ELMIRA YINGST:
That’s right, we’re all going to age.
NANCY ROURKE:
See this drawing of a woman? I painted it black and white.
MELISSA ELMIRA YINGST:
Right and who’s that?
NANCY:
There’s no color on her head, only on her clothes, but the hands are also black and white. This means that times are changing. You’re getting older and you’re starting to fade away. You start to cherish the colorful pictures more to help you remember.
This is from her time at Gallaudet. She loved her experience at Gallaudet. This is represented by the drawings of people signing ‘I love you’. These are her friends, forever friends.
MELISSA ELMIRA YINGST:
Wow, that’s very powerful.
DANNY LACEY:
We come here to DSA every two years as we’ve been doing for the past 14 years. We work with senior citizens here with their retirement planning, savings and planned income. Having that income is important because when you retire, they’ll be able to live long lives. We want to make sure that the income will sustain them for a long time. And we help with planning legacy, so whenever someone passes away, we help them figure out how to pass their belongings onto the next generation. And we come here to DSA to see our clients, friends and maybe new clients too. It’s always a pleasure being here.
MELISSA ELMIRA YINGST:
We’ve just finished watching a good forum where we discussed good topics like long term care, where deaf people want to live moving forward and et cetera. I’m curious, after this forum, what do you hope to see happen next?
KIM BIANCO:
I hope that, with the information we’ve collected on our survey, our Task Force consisting of NAD and DSA will work together to interpret the information and develop policies, programs, caregivers, trainings and look for grants. We can determine what kind of program we want to design. We could use this to propose legislative bills to make sure accessibility is mandatory. There’s the accreditation process and many things we could do. That’s our next step after this conference concludes.
SHERI COLLINS:
We need a resource center that’s easily accessible instead of everything being split into different departments. Now we’re noticing these resources are so spread out. Where do we go to? We need to clear house and need to work together! So that’s the goal. What does that look like? I don’t know, but it’s a work in progress.
MELISSA ELMIRA YINGST:
You’ll get there.
MALE ATTENDEE:
It’s the last night of the DSA conference. I believe about 900 people are here.
FEMALE ATTENDEE #2:
This is my first time on an Alaska cruise, here at DSA, and here at Seattle. All three at the same time. It’s been a great time. I applaud the committee, they did their best!
MELISSA ELMIRA YINGST:
This is really cool! This shows all the locations where they’ve hosted the DSA conference. Now, we’re in Seattle for the 2019 conference. Here are examples of previous host cities. In 1992, they hosted the DSA conference in Austin, Texas. In 2007, they hosted it in Orlando, Florida. The next DSA conference, in two years, will be held in Pennsylvania!
Captioned by aslcaptions.com
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Supported by:
Convo [https://convo.click/2mVhM8h]
Gallaudet University: [gallaudet.edu]