The National Association of the Deaf is an organization for the promotion of the rights of deaf people in the United States. NAD was founded in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, in 1880 as a non-profit organization run by Deaf people to advocate for deaf rights, its first president being Robert P. McGregor of Ohio. It includes associations from all 50 states and Washington, DC and is the US member of the World Federation of the Deaf, which has over 120 national associations of Deaf people as members. It has its headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland. All of its presidents were late-deafened until the 1970s. It is in charge of the Miss Deaf America Ambassador programs, which are held during the associations conventions. It has advocated for deaf rights in all aspects of life, from public transportation to education.
Mission statement
The mission of the National Association of the Deaf is "to preserve, protect and promote the civil, human and linguistic rights of deaf and hard of hearing people in the United States of America." While it works for Deaf people, it also works to promote knowledge about the rights, culture, and language of Deaf people to hearing people.
Issues
The NAD advocates for any issues that are associated with deaf rights. It early worked to preserve sign language, especially under George Veditz. During his time as president, Veditz and other members of the NAD used the new film technology to capture individuals signing so that their language would never be lost. Although African-Americans were not permitted to be members until later, starting in the early 20th century, the NAD advocated for vocational training for the "Colored Deaf" population. Because of the lack of rights afforded to blacks in NAD, several groups were formed, included National Black Deaf Advocates. The NAD has also fought to keep deaf teachers for teaching deaf students and for the opening of deaf residential schools across the country. In 1909, President William Howard Taft signed a law allowing deaf individuals to take civil service exams only after the NAD fought to have this as a law. It was a strong advocate for having captioned films and in 1958, President Dwight Eisenhower signed a law requiring it. The NAD strongly supported the students and faculty of Gallaudet University in the Deaf President Now protests of 1988. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 was also strongly fought for by the NAD. Most recently, the NAD has advocated for professional sports stadiums to provide captioning for the referees calls and for announcers' comments. The association has worked to require insurance companies to have deaf people as clients and for landlords to have deaf tenants. Hotels are now required to provide "deaf-friendly" alarm clocks and smoke detectors because of the NAD's persistence in the matter. The NAD fights for the right of deaf individuals to be able to use American Sign Language and to be provided an interpreter. The NAD website gives information on all the rights of deaf individuals have and how to go about gaining them.
The biennial NAD conference includes awarding of various awards.
State associations
State associations are affiliated with but independent of the NAD. All 50 states and Washington, DC, have state associations, many of which provide a dual membership with the NAD. Some state associations receive their bylaws from the NAD.
