A deaf-blind male and a deaf-blind female use tactile-sign-language to communicate with each other.

In addition, we provide public education about the lived experience of people with combined vision and hearing loss and deaf-blindness and special projects affecting various deaf-blind individuals in Arizona.

Crucial Community Partners: We are forever grateful and indebted to the Community Outreach Program for the Deaf (COPD)! Without the support of COPD in the areas of Advocacy, Assistive Technology Provision and Individual Support Service Providers (SSP's), we would not be able to meet as a group and progress the work of the organization. It is nearly impossible for members to communicate amongst each other as a group without supports for communication and information access. Since our inception, COPD has generously provided us with Individual Support Service Providers so that members can participate in our monthly meetings and access community events. In addition COPD has provided SSP's so that members can access the community to meet their independent living survival needs and some recreation and leisure desires. We also highly depend on volunteer ASL Interpreters to help us address the communication needs of individuals who come to their Deaf-Blindness via the Deaf culture and to provide communication access for our volunteers who are Deaf themselves. Thank you to Dawn Wise and Leann Smith. These are 2 ASL Interpreters who have been faithfully volunteering their services for us since our inception.

A deaf-blind man uses a volunteer interpreter to repeat to him in tactile-sign-language combined with voice to understand what another member is saying in American Sign Language

News on past events:

The Recreation and Leisure Program is a special project where we try to design activities and events that are specifically tailored to meet the desires and needs of the deaf-blind. We try to bring individuals living with deaf-blindness to places of interest that would be hard for them to access otherwise. In addition to providing safe and efficient travel support, we try to ensure that communication and information access needs are adequately met. Financial assistance is needed to keep this program running. One may designate funds be used specifically for this program.

Some of our past events were:

• AzADB Holiday Party, December 13, 2009 at the Tucson Hotel Day in Tubac, AZ, October 3, 2009 ;
• AADB National Conventions: Baltimore, MD 2006; San Diego, CA 2003; Columbus, Ohio 2000; Hartford, Connecticut 1997; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 1994.
• Tombstone, AZ on Saturday March 28, 2009 - day trip.
• Deaf-Blind Community Holiday Party in Phoenix, AZ on December 7, 2008.
• Mt Lemon AZ on Tuesday July21, 2008 - day trip.
• Sabino Canyon, AZ in May 2007 - day trip.
• Karchner Caverns, Sierra Vista, AZ - day trip March 2007
• Bisbee, AZ - day trip in October 2006

Testimonies on Recreation and Leisure Activities :

"All of the recreation and leisure events have one thing outstanding in common, as far as I can tell at this time. They were all very interesting, but would have been completely inaccessible to us without the availability of the SSPs. The National AADB Convention in Connecticut, ten years ago, was just incredible. I loved going to the harbor there, because they had some very old ships that we could go onto and touch almost everything. The waling ship we went onto still smelled like smoke and rendered wale blubber!! I also loved the way they did their banquet it was so elegant."

News on future events:

• Next Meeting Date is June12, 2010 10am to 12pm at COPD 268 West Adams, Tucson AZ - no meetings scheduled for July or August
• Upcoming Recreational Dates:    
  • Saturday June 5th - Trip up to Mount Lemmon - 8am to 4pm
  • Saturday July 10th - Day trip to Casino of the Sun - times TBA

IMPORTANT: Please, contact us [ AZADB_Tucson@yahoo.com ] for an updated list of future events.