The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) and its state affiliate the Texas Association of the Deaf?(TAD) are among our nation?s oldest Deaf advocacy organizations, serving Deaf and Hard of Hearing Americans for more than 142 years. NAD continues to innovate with their advocacy services for the Deaf community. Some of their more notable accomplishments include working with the NFL to ensure top level Deaf American Sign Language (ASL) performers for the Super Bowl Pre Game Show since 2009 and to bring Deaf ASL performers to the halftime show for the first time in 2022. The NAD advocated to ensure that the White House provided ASL access to COVID press briefings in 2020, paving the way for the White House to ensure all press conferences include ASL interpretation going forward beginning in 2021. The TAD recently focused on the needs of younger Texans with the successful passage of a bill in the Texas legislature to monitor language acquisition for children who are Deaf or hard of hearing.

Texans are invited to join the Governor?s Committee on People with Disabilities on July 28th at 10 AM for a webinar to learn more about NAD?s continued efforts to support communication access and full inclusion for Deaf Americans as well as TAD's priorities to help Deaf and hard of hearing Texans in 2023.