THE TOP STORY OF THE WEEK

The Chinese year 4707 began on January 26, 2009. This year is the
year of Ji Chou or the Ox. The Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center
wishes everyone a Gong Xi Fa Chai!

Proposed ADA Regulations Withdrawn from Office of Management and
Budget Review

On January 21, 2009, the Department of Justice notified the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) that the Department has withdrawn its
draft final rules to amend the Department's regulations implementing
title II and title III from the OMB review process. This action was
taken in response to a memorandum from the President's Chief of Staff
directing the Executive Branch agencies to defer publication of any
new regulations until the rules are reviewed and approved by officials
appointed by President Obama. No final action will be taken by the
Department with respect to these rules until the incoming officials
have had the opportunity to review the rulemaking record. Incoming
officials will have the full range of rule-making options available to
them under the Administrative Procedure Act.

Withdrawal of the draft final rules does not affect existing ADA
regulations. Title II and title III entities must continue to follow
the Department's existing ADA regulations, including the ADA Standards
for Accessible Design.

The new rules would have made it exceedingly difficult for the ADA
regulations to be enforced and would have been carried on by John
McCain if he was elected as president. Whew!

Eric Holder, Obama's US Attorney General's designate, promises swift
and fierce enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act and it's
very important that companies make themselves accessible to people
with hearing impairments. The fastest way to become accessible to the
hearing impaired is through our ebay store's ADA kits. From now until
February 14, 2009 we will be considering reasonable offers for our ADA
kits.

Brought to you by the Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center
Http://www.deafadvocacy.org

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DO YOUR VALENTINE'S DAY SHOPPING AT OUR WEBSTORE.

Valentines Day gifts do not have to be candies and flowers, they can
be the gift of access!

Do your shopping at our eBay store today! Lots of products for the
deaf, and blind, and other disabilities. Remember your parents, grand
parents, brothers, sisters, family members, co-workers who need
adaptive equipment. Employers can shop here for equipment and
accessories for their hearing impaired workers.

We have completed the move of our ebay warehouse and shipping room to
one of our group homes. This will ensure faster processing for
shipping. Here is a teachertube video of our Enableworks training
program in the shipping room.

http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=031f377bc1475befb61e

Stop by http://stores.ebay.com/OCDAC-Adaptive-Equipment-and-More today
to start your shopping.

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THE GRAPEVINES

Albertsons Community Partner Program
You Must Re-link Your Card to Continue Giving!

If you are currently part of the Albertsons Community Partner program
and use your card to give 4% of all your purchases to the Mission, you
will have to re-link your card number for us to continue earning
funds! Use your Preferred Savings Card Number and link (or re-link)
to "Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center" at http://www.albertsonscp.com

The Mission's ID # is: 49001002038. You'll need to re-link your card
by February 28th 2009 to keep earning 4% of all your purchases for
Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center!

Please pass this notice around to your friends, relatives, co-workers,
and neighbors so they can link their cards as well.

Brought to you by The Orange Deafie Blog
Http://www.deafadvocacy.org/blog/blog.html

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MAXED OUT ON YOUR CREDIT CARDS?

Get yourself an OCDAC credit card through a special program at
http://www.cardpartner.com/enduser.aspx?AEID=D0974

We get a $50 donation for each person who completes the signup.

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THE FINGER BOWS

Hearing Impaired Adaptive Technology Expo

February 14, 2009 / Orange County, California

FREE ADMISSION - FREE PARKING

Come one, Come all to our first annual Hearing Impaired Adaptive
Technology Expo and learn of adaptive technology that makes enjoying
life better for the hearing impaired.

See, touch, feel, and try some of the dozens of different adaptive
technology for the hearing impaired at this small yet highly
resourceful expo.

Date : Saturday, February 14, 2009
Time : 10 am - 4 pm

Location : The clubhouse at the
Park Royale Mobile Home Park
300 N Rampart St
Orange, CA 92868

Clubhouse is right at the entrance to the mobile home park. Cozy
building. Refreshments available.

Sponsored by the Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center

Free booths to adaptive technology vendors and related organizations!

For more in formation, email ocdac@...

Keep an eye on our ( www.deafadvocacy.org ) website for more information.

Brought to you by ASL News http://www.aslnews.com

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Take a look and bookmark our new search page!
Http://www.deafadvocacy.org/search.html . It's a good source of
information you can use.

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THE SOUR ORCHIDS

Domestic Violence. Has it evolved into a bullying tool? The recent
episode at the Deaf Video TV website suggests that domestic violence
has become a tool for people to use to pick on others. The editor
talks about this in his video blog.

What Is Domestic Violence Issue At DVTV All About? Open captioned
for those who dont sign.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJFVa66qDtg

Brought to you by the other Orange Deafie Blog at
http://ocdac.wordpress.com/

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COME TO OUR MEETUPS!

The Orange County American Sign Language Meetup Group -
http://asl.meetup.com/37/ - and the Orange County Deaf & Hearing
Impaired Meetup Group http://deaf.meetup.com/38/ meets each 3rd
Fridays of the month.

We are currently pondering a new location because our competition
appears to have hijacked the excitement, prestige, and normalcy of our
cherished monthly gatherings.

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FROM THE BLOGSPHERE

National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence Guidance On
Cochlear Implants Released

http://www.nice.org.uk/Guidance/TA166

Here is the summary;

A cochlear implant in one ear is recommended as a possible option for
everyone with severe to profound deafness if they do not get enough
benefit from hearing aids after trying them for 3 months. Cochlear
implants in both ears are recommended for the following groups with
severe to profound deafness only if they do not get enough benefit
from hearing aids after trying them for 3 months and the implants are
placed during the same operation:

children
adults who are blind or have other disabilities which mean that they
depend upon hearing sounds for spatial awareness.

The cochlear implant team should carry out an assessment to find out
if an implant would help before they consider a cochlear implant. They
should take into account any disabilities or difficulties in
communicating, which might mean that the usual hearing tests are not
suitable. In such cases they should consider other methods for testing
hearing. A later operation to place a cochlear implant in the second
ear is only recommended for the following groups if they already had a
cochlear implant in the other ear when the guidance was issued:

children
adults who are blind or have other disabilities which mean that they
depend upon hearing sounds for spatial awareness.

In all cases, if more than one type of cochlear implant is suitable,
the least expensive should be used. Costs should include the cost of
the implant and the support package, and how reliable the system is.
When an implant is placed in a second ear during the same operation
the cost for the second implant should include currently available
discounts on list prices of 40% or more.

Brought to you by the Hearing For Life Foundation
Http://www.hear-for-life.org

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**** DISCLAIMER ****
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The OCDAC Newsletter is designed to share information of interest to
people with disabilities, their friends, associates, and relatives and
promote advocacy in the disability community. Information circulated
herein does not necessarily express the views of The Orange County
Deaf Advocacy Center. The OCDAC Newsletter is non-partisan. OCDAC
Newsletter does not sell advertising space.

The Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center is a community based
organization that puts people with disabilities first in their
advocacy for equal opportunities in safety, health, and productive living.

The Orange County Deaf Advocacy Center provides services for disabled
individuals and their families in our community who need help in
navigating the social services maze. Every day people go without
proper food, shelter, and essential medical care every day due to a
variety of factors including low wages, job loss, injuries, illness,
age, domestic violence, or divorce. While all of us are susceptible to
hard times, disabled individuals are at the most risk. With the
generous support of people like you, we are able to help many of these
families and individuals not only to meet essential daily needs, but
to work toward a brighter future with programs in job training,
education, counseling, elderly assistance, and temporary housing.

Feel free to forward this email message IN ITS ENTIRETY to anyone and
any of your personal mailing lists so we can get the important
messages out far and wide and encourage them to sign up for our weekly
newsletter.

Our physical address is 2960 Main Street suite #100, Irvine California
92614 and this email is in compliance with CAN-SPAM Act of 2003.

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