South Dakota Governor to Address NAD Conference Plenary Session
Submitted by admin on Tue, 05/15/2012 - 18:07
Blog:
The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) is pleased to announce that South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard will address a plenary session on Friday, July 6, at 3:45 p.m. in the Hyatt Regency Ballroom during the 51st Biennial NAD Conference in Louisville, Kentucky, July 3-7, 2012.
Gov. Daugaard will talk about political power and the importance of deaf and hard of hearing people participating in the political process. He will describe how to best advance our community's civil, human, and linguistic rights with politicians.
Dennis Daugaard was sworn in as Governor of South Dakota on Jan. 8, 2010, and it is believed that he is the first ever CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) American governor. American Sign Language was the main means of communication in the Daugaard family, and Gov. Daugaard worked as a certified interpreter at one time. He and his sister were involved with the Sioux Falls Deaf Community as youngsters, due to their parents’ membership in the South Dakota Association of the Deaf.
“We are pleased to have Gov. Dennis Daugaard present at the 2012 NAD Conference. Having grown up with deaf parents, he is a life-long friend of the deaf community – not only in South Dakota, but th