National Association of the Deaf

Independent Commission of the United States Olympic Committee
c/o Richard Cass
Wilmer, Cutler and Pickering
2445 M Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037-1420

Dear Commission Members:

The Deaf and Hard of Hearing Alliance; a Coalition of Consumers and Professional Organizations (DHHA) respectfully requests the Commission to include financial parity for elite deaf and hard of hearing athletes in the Deaflympic Games when it considers recommendations on the organization and structure of the United States Olympic Committee.

The current USOC structure creates disparity and inequity in the way deaf and hard of hearing athletes are funded by USOC, as compared with the way other disability groups are supported. To give one example, USOC provides line item funding US athletes on the Olympic and Paralympic teams, but does not provide similar support for deaf and hard of hearing deaflympians, who are forced to fundraise for themselves.

As background, the first World Games for the Deaf (WGD), now known as the Deaflympic Games, patterned on the Olympic Games, took place in Paris, France in 1924. The USA has competed in the WGD since 1935 and with the exception of World War II years, has participated every 4 years since then.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognizes CISS, an international deaf Olympic organization composed of 82 national deaf sports federations (including USADSF) as an organization “having an Olympic standing, directing their competitions according to Olympic principles.” In 1966 the IOC awarded the Olympic Cup to CISS (now known as the International Deaflympic Committee) in recognition of its services to sports. In addition, the Olympic Games, the Paralympic Games, and the Deaflympic Games are under the umbrella of the USOC and each of these games are recognized by the IOC, International Paralympic Committee (IPC), and CISS as games for the most elite athletes at the Olympic level. Yet the total level of funding to those attending the Olympic Games, the Paralympic Games, and the Deaflympic Games remain inequitable in what appears to be a violation of the OASA (Olympic and Amateur Sports Act), 1998. Members of the deaf and hard of hearing community are not asking for preferential treatment, but rather simply want the same treatment provided to other elite disabled and able-bodied athletes and for the USOC to recognize, as the IOC and IPC have done for years, that the Deaflympic Games are neither superior to nor subordinate to the Paralympics games

DHHA is a coalition of national organizations committed to improving the lives of individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing. Constituencies of DHHA member organizations provide a variety of services, including technological and telecommunications services, educational programs, parent information and referral, support groups and self-help programs, medical, audiological, and speech-language pathology assessment and rehabilitation services, information on assistive devices and technology, and general information on other services for deaf and hard of hearing consumers.

The following organizational members of DHHA support this letter:

• Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing (AGBell)
• American Academy of Audiology (AAA)
• American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS)
• American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)
• Auditory-Verbal International, Inc. (AVI)
• Convention of American Instructors of the Deaf (CAID)
• Deafness Research Foundation (DRF)
• National Association of the Deaf (NAD)
• National Campaign for Hearing Health (NCHH)
• National Court Reporters Association (NCRA)
• Self Help for the Hard of Hearing (SHHH)
• Telecommunications for the Deaf, Inc. (TDI)

DHHA urges you to take the appropriate steps to ensure financial parity for all athletes under the Olympic banner.

Sincerely yours,

Mark J. Golden, CAE (DHHA Co-Chair)
Executive Director
National Court Reporters Association
8224 Old Courthouse Road
Vienna, Virginia 22182

Nancy J. Bloch (DHHA Co-Chair)
Executive Director
National Association of the Deaf
814 Thayer Avenue
Silver Spring, MD 20910

cc: USADSF President, Bobbie Beth Scoggins
USOC Acting President Bill Martin
USOC Interim CEO Jim Scherr