December 15, 2008 - The Hearing Loss Association of America and other leaders from the community of people who are hard of hearing or deaf met with members of the Obama Transition Team December 11, 2008. Leaders at the meeting had worked hard to provide the Transition Team members with a consensus document on the issues impacting people who are hard of hearing or deaf. Transition Team member Kareem Dale welcomed us and made it clear the new administration would be looking for ways to ensure that all people with disabilities would have a seat at the table when decisions were being made that impacted their lives. It was an exciting opportunity to reach out to the new administration and make our voices heard.
The Obama-Biden Transition Team has put in place a remarkable online opportunity regarding how stakeholders influence public policy: change.gov/open_government/yourseatatthetable. The consensus document of organizations representing people who are hard of hearing or deaf should appear on that site in the coming weeks.
This site promises to show all the meetings they are holding with stakeholders, and includes links to materials those stakeholders are using in those meetings.
There's also an opportunity for the public to comment on each meeting and the issues raised.
