Senator Ted Kennedy for Deaf People

Senator Ted Kennedy was well-known as "The Senate's Lion" within us, Americans which he endlessly fought for the educational justice and other civil rights issues greatly mobilized and defined the Deaf America and other deaf people around the world.

No questions about Senator Kennedy's direct responsibility for the real changes in deaf education within expanded options for disabled youngsters of pre-college programs, ex.
mainstream, I.D.E.A., I.E.P and greater educational fundings for multi-handicapped programs.

Ted Kennedy from the long history of Massachusseetts' views on social, economic and political progress lend the Deaf American community and other cultural and linguistic minorities like the deaf ASL users to be politically empowered with the deaf activism from the mid-1960s to the recent 2006 Gallaudet University protest.

The state of Massachussetts was the first state to create the commisison of the deaf to serve the deaf population in the Bay State which successfully led by Barbara Woods, a deaf activist.

Deaf Massachussett residents actually enjoyed such privileges like the state providers for medical interpreters which Ted Kennedy and the Kennedy family played pivotal roles in
the changing attitudes toward disabled individuals , except the cultural and linguistic minority of deaf signing people.

Back in the early 1980s, Lt. Governor John Kerry (U.S. Senator, now) helped the creation of TTY distribution under Governor Mike Dukakis. As the similar comparsion to deaf people enjoyed free videophones within the private company nowadays.

No idea of how Senator Ted Kennedy really embraced deaf people as part of cultural and linguistic minority, instead of seeing us as disabled group.

Political liberals are usually known for their support of transforming the deaf education into more "mainstreamed" options as compared to many political conservatives' support for the deaf residential schools back in the 1970s.

Senator Ted Kennedy and other liberals included President John Kennedy paved the way for the direct government programs from federal food stamps distribution to Social Security Income/Social Security Disability Income (SSI/SSDI) which entirely changed the Deaf America
from the aspects of self-reliance to the "from cradle to death of welfare allocations) among handful of deaf people, instead of encouraging them to seek the gainful employment.

On another hand, Senator Kennedy and other liberals helped millions and millions of Americans to get out of permanent poverty with the government's social entitlement programs.

More and more deaf individuals engaged in the concept of enterpretutial efforts in the 1990s and 2000s which deaf people finally get in the steps of corporate ladders within the TTY and video relay services for the deaf. Senator Kennedy and other government leaders made real possible for deaf people being economically independent.

ASLize yours,
Robert L. Mason (RLM)