Workshops

Workshop Descriptions


Audism Unveiled

Dirksen Bauman

Program Abstract, Audism Unveiled: This workshop will feature a showing of the award-winning documentary film, Audism Unveiled, and will be followed by a lecture and discussion of critical issues regarding power, identity and language.

Recommendations Made to Governor O’Malley

Judy Stout and Kelby Brick

Judy Stout and Kelby Brick served on the Governor’s Transition Committee which made recommendations on Governor O’Malley’s priorities for the next four years. They will present on the process involved and outline what recommendations were made to and accepted by the Governor. Come and see this workshop to find out the Governor’s priorities and how they will impact Deaf and Hard of Hearing people!

Ed. Objectives: Increase audience’s understanding of the political process and emerging issues and priorities in the State Government.

Deaf Consumers and Hearing Interpreters: Can we work TOGETHER and be STRONGER YES!

Betty Colonomos and Jan Delap

Deaf Consumers and Hearing Interpreters: Can we work TOGETHER and be STRONGER? Yes!! Betty Colonomos and Jan DeLap Program Abstract: Most of us have experienced or heard of situations that did not go well. There are many reasons this happens. While we often look to skill levels,cultural competence, and attitude of hearing interpreters to explain the problem, itis more complex than this. In this workshop we will explore some of the reasonsfor conflict or dissatisfaction with services. Through real-life based scenarios (role plays) we will watch each situation and analyze what happened and then discuss how to create positive outcomes.

Videophone 101 – Do’s and Don’ts in Video Communication

Karl Ewan

What you should do or should not do while using a videophone will be covered in the presentation. It is not limited to only videophones but also includes web cameras on a laptop or a desktop computer.

True Gift of Our Health: Our Breath - Get Inspired with Your Breath

Beverly Hanyzewski

Together we can develop a stronger, healthier community. How do we do this? By using our breath as inspiration. Our breath of life can help us discover truly happier and healthier living. With our inspiration we manifest spirit and give life and courage not only to ourselves, but also to our vast community. Beverly will provide a new look at our lives in light of healthy living with the insight and passion to direct your growth. During this workshop, we will work with the union of the body, breath and mind to nurture what is essential for our health. Join us for hands-on experience with breathing exercises and a brief ‘Yoga on the Chair’ session. Celebrate the infinite possibility of freedom and tranquility through this natural breath of life.

Creative Home Financing Strategies for Building Wealth

Margie Wood and Stephen Hlibok

What exactly is home equity? Does home equity create wealth? How do banks use the concept of arbitrage to make money? How do my credit scores cost me money? Learn the answers to these questions and consider creative home financing strategies that can help you build personal wealth in this interactive discussion workshop.

The Shifting Status of American Sign Language

Ben Jarashow

What is status of ASL right now? What about 50 years ago? We will discuss some critical analysis of the status of ASL through the timeline of history. The history of ASL's status will show three different issues: ASL as a gesture, ASL as a language, and ASL as an academic setting.

Blackberry Training

Arthur Moore and Eldon Lingg

The presentation is based on the BlackBerry 8703e’s user interface, applications, and technical know-how’s. A BlackBerry 8703e emulator will be used via a laptop and a projector to demonstrate how one will be able to take advantage of what it has to offer.

Keeping It Hot After 50

Alan Marcus

Remember the days when you were young and full of energy. Remember how you would get all excited when you were going to meet your sweetheart, you would think, will I get lucky tonight? Maybe you married your sweetheart and now you are over 50. Now you get into bed and you say “Gee I am tired”. Does sex have to stop after 50. NO WAY!  Come to this workshop and learn how to keep sex alive in your life. There will be lots of good information and plenty of time for questions. Don’t miss out!

How to do an ASL Vlog and it's Impact in Maryland

David Martin and Thomas Withrow

This workshop will be led by Marylanders who use the hottest technology movement called ASL Vlogs. In this workshop the presenter will show step by step on how to set up your own ASL Vlog. This workshop will also include personal annotates on how ASL Vlogs has impacted Deaf people and interpreters in this state. This workshop will also showcase some of the best ASL Vlogs ever seen that were produced by Marylanders

Living in An Accessible World -- A Possible Reality or Just A Dream?

Suzy Rosen Singleton

Come and glean what local deaf attorneys have to say about this topic. Moderated by attorney Suzy Rosen Singleton, you'll meet panelists Kelby Brick, HOVRS Director of Legal and Regulatory Affairs; Greg Hlibok, Attorney with the Federal Communications Commission; Bob Mather, Attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice; Jeff Rosen, SNAP!VRS General Counsel and Vice President of Government Affairs; and Michael Stein, Staff Attorney with the NAD Law and Advocacy Center. Can social justice truly be attained, and how? This dynamic panel will shed light on this inquiry, drawing from their personal and professional experiences, and will be available for audience's questions as well.

Presenters' Biography


Dirksen Bauman

Dirksen Bauman earned degrees in English from Colorado College (BA 1985), University of Northern Colorado (MA 1989), and Binghamton University, State University of New York (PhD, 1998) where his dissertation explored ASL poetry within the context of 20th century American poetics. He taught English at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf for two years (1994-1996). Dirksen then moved to Gallaudet University where he taught in the Department of English for 3 years. In 1999, he was hired to teach in the Deaf Studies department, where he now directs the graduate program. He has published articles on ASL literature, autobiographical practices, audism and bioethics. He is the co-editor of the book/DVD project, Signing the Body Poetic: Essays in American Sign Language Literature with Jennifer Nelson and Heidi Rose (University of California Press, 2006) and editor of Open Your Eyes: Deaf Studies Talking (University of Minnesota Press, 2007). He is also a producer and co-director of the film (with Ben Bahan and Facundo Montenegro) of Audism Unveiled. His current areas of interest are bilingualism in higher education and the intersections of architecture, critical theory, and Deaf Studies.

Kelby Brick

Kelby Brick is a deaf attorney based in Maryland. He leads HOVRS’ legal and regulatory affairs working to take down communication barriers for deaf and hard of hearing individuals.

Prior to joining HOVRS, Brick was the National Association of the Deaf’s Director for Law and Advocacy. As Director, Brick successfully mobilized the NAD in establishing precedents and landmark decisions in litigation, legislative and regulatory areas. He has also been active in numerous civic rights advocacy organizations.

Brick has co-authored the renowned book, Legal Rights: the Guide for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People, in addition to writing numerous articles that have appeared in various publications. He also led MDAD’s efforts to successfully enact the Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (ODHH).

Brick graduated from Gallaudet University with a B.A. in Government and went on to Temple University Law School, where he became the first deaf person to ever graduate from their law school. Before being appointed as the NAD’s Director for Law and Advocacy, Brick ran a solo private general law practice with an emphasis on criminal law, civil rights, estate planning, and lobbying.

Groups across the country have called upon him to speak and conduct workshops on a variety of issues including public policy, community empowerment, and activism.

Brick is married with 2 sons.

Betty Colonomos

Betty, currently serving as Director of the Bilingual Mediation Center, is the oldest daughter of Deaf parents and a fluent ASL/English bilingual. Her academic training has been in Deaf Education/Speech Pathology (undergraduate), Counseling (graduate) and Linguistics (doctoral). Betty was awarded the Masters Comprehensive Skills Certificate (MCSC) from RID in 1980. Betty is well known as an educator of interpreters and language consultant. In addition to developing the most widely used model for teaching processes used in interpreting, she has consulted with schools and the legal system as an expert on linguistic and cultural issues impacting on the Deaf Community.

Jan Delap

Ms. DeLap is a certified Deaf interpreter in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, specializing in legal interpreting. For over ten years she has interpreted in a variety of legal settings, including hearings and trials in the DC Superior Court and other states, as well as depositions and pre-trial hearings in attorney offices. She was a member of the Maryland Judicial Task Force in 1995 and served as a member the Maryland Administrative Office of the Court Advisory Committee on Interpreters. Ms. DeLap was also one of three co-coordinators of interpreters for Deaf Way II, where she was responsible for ensuring accessible communication for over 9,000 Deaf and hearing participants from all over the world.

A well-renowned speaker, Ms. DeLap has taught interpreting around the country with Risa Shaw, who is also well-known locally for her presentations on Deaf Culture to medical professionals and police officers.

Karl A. Ewan

Karl A. Ewan is a native of Washington, DC and the current Agency Liaison for the Federal Relay program with Sprint Relay since April 2004. Karl received his Masters’ in Rehabilitation Counseling for the Deaf (RCD) from Gallaudet University. Prior to coming to Sprint, Karl was a Video Interpreting Manager for the Denver Video Relay Service Center with CSD as well as the Outreach Manager for CSD in the Metropolitan Washington Area. He has been involved with Student Development at the collegiate and secondary levels as well with doing an internship with the Puerto Rico Vocational Rehabilitation Administration in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He is also a member of the National Association of the Deaf’s Technology Committee (NAD-TC).

In his spare time, Karl enjoys reading, surfing the internet, traveling, and most importantly, going to the beach.

Beverly Hanyzewski

Beverly fell in love in proper alignment of heart and spirit. After she was inspired with yoga, she became a certified Yoga Alliance Registered teacher (RYT), who is dedicated to the fields of human consciousness and offers a lot of insight to embrace the gift of our journey with the union of our heart and spirit. She believes this ancient and holistic approach brings healthier community. She continues the inspiration by providing the gift of yoga education to all ages.

Stephen Hlibok

Stephen is the Vice President of Global Private Client Group and a Certified Financial Manager and he has more than 18 years of experience providing financial and wealth management advice. He has been in the forefront of awareness of the deaf investor’s needs in the brokerage field. Stephen specializes in the development and implementation of long term planning. The Hlibok Group’s goal is to offer you objective and consistent insight into portfolio planning, asset allocation, investment manager selection and portfolio performance review which will assist you in fulfilling the mission of your organization. He received his M.A. from New York University and a B.S. in Business Administration from Gallaudet University. Throughout his professional career, he has held a variety of leadership positions, and he has presented at local, national and international conferences on finances. Articles about him has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Fortune, Business Week and numerous publications and on “Sunday Today” (NBC), ABC World news Tonight and French Television. Stephen and his wife Peggy live in Columbia, MD with their four children.

Ben Jarashow

Ben Jarashow, is a Fremont, California native. He came to Gallaudet University the year of 2000, after graduating from the California School for the Deaf, Fremont, and graduated with a Masters degree in Deaf Studies in 2006. Ben is currently teaching undergraduate courses in ASL and Deaf Studies at Gallaudet University. He enjoys ASL storytelling, cooking, traveling and adventures. Ben lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife, Kat, and Maggie, their surly old Scottish terrier. His favorite quote is, "I like nonsense. It wakes up the brain cells." - Dr. Seuss

Eldon Lingg

Eldon Lingg is a 1992 graduate of the Washington School for the Deaf and currently majoring in Computer Networking at Mountain State University with a graduation date of December 2007. He and his wife, Hayley, reside in Martinsburg, West Virginia, and have four kids. He has been self-employed as a Computer Administrator and performs maintenance at other people’s homes and for his local church. In addition to being self-employed, he is a contractor with Sprint Relay since spring of 2007.

Alan L. Marcus, Ph.D., CSC

Dr. Alan L. Marcus, CSC received his Ph.D. from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. He has been a sign language interpreter for over 25 years and a psychologist and sex therapist in private practice for over 15 years. Dr. Marcus has worked at Gallaudet University, the University of Maryland and the Maryland School for the Deaf. He has also presented workshops and trainings around the world, has published several articles and co-authored a chapter in a book on working with CODAs in mental health settings.

David A. Martin

David A. Martin is the current Assistant Professor/Program Manager of ASL Studies at Frederick Community College (FCC) in Frederick, MD. At FCC, David is challenged not only as an ASL Studies professor, but also as a manager running an ASL Studies Program. David Martin grew up in the Frederick, MD area and attended the Maryland School for the Deaf. Upon graduation, David went to Gallaudet and earned his B.S. in Psychology (1990). David received his Masters in Deaf Education from Western Maryland College, currently known as McDaniel College. David’s professional career includes jobs as a recruiter for Gallaudet University, teaching drama at the Texas School for the Deaf, teaching kindergarten at the Maryland School for the Deaf, ASL/Deaf Studies instructor and the ASL Lab manager at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD. David is an active member of the Frederick Chapter of ASLTA, where he currently holds the President position. David holds ASLTA’s Provisional Certification. The need for ASL workshops as well as Deaf awareness programs keeps David busy. He holds the distinction of being a Deaf child of a certified interpreter. David currently resides in Frederick with his wife Debbie and their four young children, all CODAs.

Arthur Moore

Arthur Moore was born in New Hampshire and raised in Massachusetts. He went to Rochester Institute of Technology, pursuing a degree in Biology. After three years, he decided to transfer to another college, Gallaudet University in Washington D.C. where he earned his Bachelor’s degrees in Computer Science and Biology.

After graduating from Gallaudet University in 1989, Art went to work with General Dynamics’ Electric Boat Division as a Computer Systems Engineer, helping build submarines during the Cold War. Eventually, his department was merged with Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), which continued work with General Dynamics as an outsourcing vendor. After the Cold War when demand for submarines dwindled, Art joined Sprint as an Account Manager with Relay Connecticut.

Currently, Art is working in his latest position as an Account Executive within the Sales team, covering the Northeast area (Maine to North Carolina). I work with wireless sales, offering data-based, hand-held devices such as Blackberry, Treo, Mogul and Centro devices.

Art is married to Beth and they have two boys, Brandon and Kevin. They live in Connecticut and Art is kept busy with the boys’ after-school activities, such as Boy Scouts, fishing, skiing and even doing a few games on Xbox! Art also serves on the American School for the Deaf Board of Directors and the Collegiate Education for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Advisory Board at Northwest Connecticut Community College.

Suzy Rosen-Singleton

Ms. Singleton’s life has virtually been devoted to implementing efforts to ensure better quality lives for the deaf and hard of hearing community. She attended Gallaudet University for two years before she transferred to University of California, Berkeley, to graduate with a BA in Political Science. She then went on to obtain a Juris Doctor from the UCLA School of Law. She has since then endeavored to achieve optimal social justice as a disability rights attorney, first practicing as a staff attorney and litigator with the California Center for Law and the Deaf, and then as a Legal Counsel for Government Affairs with the National Association of the Deaf. She continued such advocacy as a Federal employee at the U.S. Department of Education. Once her twins and younger son arrived, she has been occupied with the wonderful charge of being a full-time mom. During such a busy time however, she continues to remain involved with the deaf and hard of hearing community, which include serving on the board of the Maryland Association of the Deaf and as its legislative liaison, authoring articles, providing pro bono legal assistance when needed, chairing a state-wide multi-organizational Symposium, teaching courses at Gallaudet University, and being an active member of the newly founded national Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology.

Judy C. Stout

Judy C. Stout, a Native American (Lumbee) grew up in Pembroke, N.C. She works as an Outreach Specialist for Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center, with specific emphasis on programs and schools serving Deaf and Hard of Hearing children, in the southeast region of United States.

She is also a political activist for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Montgomery County of Maryland, and the founder of Maryland Democratic Club for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. She served a two-year term on the UpCounty Advisory Board for Montgomery County, reporting to the County Councils and County Executive Commissioner.

Judy has participated in political campaigns for U.S. president, Maryland governor, and U.S. House of Representatives - Maryland District 8 and local Councils.

Judy is among several contributing authors to "Step in the Circle" by Damara Paris and Sharon Wood, in addition to writing numerous articles in publications as well as clippings. She is currently a Tribal Advisor for Intertribal Deaf Council (IDC).

Judy continues to provide Political Leadership training. She is an ardent advocate enlisting interest and support from her community to vote and, a certified Registrar.

"I believe that by getting involved in the political arena, the quality of life and opportunities for the deaf and hard of hearing citizens can be greatly enhanced." -Judy C. Stout

Thomas Withrow

Thomas Withrow graduated from Maryland School for the Deaf and earned his Bachelor of Science from Gallaudet University (1982). Thomas moved to California and made his way back to Maryland after several stops on the way back at Texas, Alabama, Washington, D.C. and finally, Maryland. He completed his Masters of Art degree at Western Maryland College, currently McDaniel College in 1989. Currently, he is teaching ASL full time in the Montgomery County Public Schools system and is very active with the USA Deaf Track and Field teams going aboard for Pan AM Games for the Deaf and Deaflympics.

Thomas resides in Glenn Dale with his lovely wife, Heather, and two beautiful children, Skyler (Deaf) and Anastasia (CODA).

Margie S. Wood

Raised in Knoxville, Tennessee by Deaf parents, Margie Wood has lived and worked with the Washington, DC Area Deaf community since 1990 as a nationally certified American Sign Language interpreter and as a residential mortgage lender. Wood has been a Senior Loan Officer specializing in home financing for first-time homebuyers and residential property investors since 2004. Wood currently works for First Savings Mortgage Corporation, the Washington, DC Area’s number 1 privately owned residential mortgage lender. Wood frequently presents home financing workshops to a wide variety of audiences with other real estate professionals all over the Washington, DC Area.