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ASL Club Presents Event for Deaf Public Oct. 29 at USAO


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CHICKASHA – The University of Science and Arts is inviting the local deaf and hard of hearing community to attend a special presentation Oct. 29 on the USAO campus. The presentation, led by Communication Services for the Deaf (CSD), is scheduled for 6-8 p.m. in the Gary Hall Lounge.

The event is free and open to the public.

“We hope that the local deaf and hard of hearing community will join us for an educational and social evening,” said Dr. Tina Herring, assistant professor of deaf education.

Sponsored by the USAO American Sign Language Club, the evening features special guest speaker Kristina Hakey, domestic violence and sexual assault outreach specialist and interim director of CSD of Oklahoma. CSD is a nonprofit organization that provides services to deaf and hard of hearing residents in Oklahoma.

Hakey is scheduled to speak about new CSD programs and the deaf and hard of hearing division of Sprint Relay telephone services. Other topics include blackberry service, public videophones, deaf publications, domestic violence services and more.

Over the past ten years, Hakey has taught American Sign Language at Tulsa Technology and served as the director of the Miss Deaf Oklahoma Pageant. She serves on the Oklahoma Association of the Deaf Board.

Hakey has developed and provided community-wide training on deafness and accessible tools to service providers as well as assisted in ensuring that deaf and hard of hearing domestic violence and sexual assault victims had access to necessary services. She also has developed and provided community domestic violence and sexual assault awareness education programs to the deaf and hard of hearing communities.