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Job lab for deaf to open | delmarvanow.com | The Daily Times
A job laboratory for the deaf or hard of hearing opens this week, an expansion of services by the Deaf Independent Living Association mobilizing to reach more people with hearing disorders -- a population segment expected to grow with aging baby boomers and military personnel returning from war.
"The lab is geared for all educational and functional levels to independent use of the job lab and some who need assistance," said Jennifer Whitcomb, executive director. "There needs to be an understanding about what job requirements are, and whether the person can be fit into a position. We put job requirements in the lab. Our philosophy is that everybody is employable and able to obtain jobs desired."
The lab is at the 806 Snow Hill Road location and is equipped with computers for job searches, employment applications and services by association professionals who conduct job analysis designed to counsel prospective employees on workplace or employer expectations, Whitcomb said.
An estimated 10 percent of the region's population is either deaf or hard of hearing, although the association, formed in Salisbury in 1983, has reached a mere fraction with skills training, educational outreach and support programming, Whitcomb said, counting an estimated 1,300 persons served last year with resident and employment support.
That number is up by about 100 over the previous year, said Mike Purkey, the association's development director, who added that 1,200 clients were served the year before.
"We are expanding and we're letting the community know," he said.
The lab opening coincides with a national symposium the next day in Bethesda that celebrates 20 years of service by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. According to the American Society for Deaf Children, an estimated one in six people in the United States will experience a communication disorder in his or her lifetime.
The city of Salisbury funded the lab through a Community Development Block Grant from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development, enabling the association to expand at a time military personnel are returning from Middle East conflicts and increasing the demand for hearing impaired services, Whitcomb adds.
"Hearing loss is the No. 1 leading injury among (war zone) soldiers," she says.
An increase in the number of aging residents also has prompted discussions about further expansion to assist both seniors with hearing loss as well as provide support services for their family members, Whitcomb said. "Senior citizens are a new (demographic) that has not been tapped into," she said. "We do help a few, but there are no specific senior citizen programs."
The association recently added services for youth, including a relatively new summer camp for children ages 5 through 17, and an American Sign Language service that teaches the skill to children starting at age 5. Youth programming helps prepare school-age children to blend into the general population in a traditional classroom. For their parents, local training is an alternative to traveling to Frederick or Howard counties where the state's only schools for the deaf are located, she said.
"We are trying to reach out to all age groups; there is a need," Whitcomb said. "For the last couple of years, we've been expanding services to serve (children). When they are isolated and can't communicate with their peers"
With the employable, the association provides job training and assigns professional assistants, including sign language interpreters, to shadow deaf persons on their job to assist with workplace adjustment, she said.
Employers who hire the deaf and hard of hearing can be eligible for a tax incentive up to $5,000 to cover expenses associated with special assistance provided the hearing impaired worker, she said. "Up to 90 days, we would go on the site to help bridge the communications gap," Whitcomb said.
A job laboratory for the deaf or hard of hearing opens this week, an expansion of services by the Deaf Independent Living Association mobilizing to reach more people with hearing disorders -- a population segment expected to grow with aging baby boomers and military personnel returning from war.
"The lab is geared for all educational and functional levels to independent use of the job lab and some who need assistance," said Jennifer Whitcomb, executive director. "There needs to be an understanding about what job requirements are, and whether the person can be fit into a position. We put job requirements in the lab. Our philosophy is that everybody is employable and able to obtain jobs desired."
The lab is at the 806 Snow Hill Road location and is equipped with computers for job searches, employment applications and services by association professionals who conduct job analysis designed to counsel prospective employees on workplace or employer expectations, Whitcomb said.
An estimated 10 percent of the region's population is either deaf or hard of hearing, although the association, formed in Salisbury in 1983, has reached a mere fraction with skills training, educational outreach and support programming, Whitcomb said, counting an estimated 1,300 persons served last year with resident and employment support.
That number is up by about 100 over the previous year, said Mike Purkey, the association's development director, who added that 1,200 clients were served the year before.
"We are expanding and we're letting the community know," he said.
The lab opening coincides with a national symposium the next day in Bethesda that celebrates 20 years of service by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. According to the American Society for Deaf Children, an estimated one in six people in the United States will experience a communication disorder in his or her lifetime.
The city of Salisbury funded the lab through a Community Development Block Grant from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development, enabling the association to expand at a time military personnel are returning from Middle East conflicts and increasing the demand for hearing impaired services, Whitcomb adds.
"Hearing loss is the No. 1 leading injury among (war zone) soldiers," she says.
An increase in the number of aging residents also has prompted discussions about further expansion to assist both seniors with hearing loss as well as provide support services for their family members, Whitcomb said. "Senior citizens are a new (demographic) that has not been tapped into," she said. "We do help a few, but there are no specific senior citizen programs."
The association recently added services for youth, including a relatively new summer camp for children ages 5 through 17, and an American Sign Language service that teaches the skill to children starting at age 5. Youth programming helps prepare school-age children to blend into the general population in a traditional classroom. For their parents, local training is an alternative to traveling to Frederick or Howard counties where the state's only schools for the deaf are located, she said.
"We are trying to reach out to all age groups; there is a need," Whitcomb said. "For the last couple of years, we've been expanding services to serve (children). When they are isolated and can't communicate with their peers"
With the employable, the association provides job training and assigns professional assistants, including sign language interpreters, to shadow deaf persons on their job to assist with workplace adjustment, she said.
Employers who hire the deaf and hard of hearing can be eligible for a tax incentive up to $5,000 to cover expenses associated with special assistance provided the hearing impaired worker, she said. "Up to 90 days, we would go on the site to help bridge the communications gap," Whitcomb said.