
DAC Online Resources
Provide Services as an Interpreter
Deaf Access Committee – Questions and Answers (PDF Download)
“Online Intergroup: Alcoholics Anonymous” – Online Meetings for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Alcoholics
“Sober Fingers” – Videos of ASL Interpretations of AA Speakers
Deaf Access Committee
The Hill Country Intergroup Association – Deaf Access Committee (HCIA-DAC) is a group of AA members who work together to help make AA in the Austin Metro Area accessible to Deaf and hard-of-hearing (HH) alcoholics. We follow the 12 Traditions of AA and are not affiliated with any other organization. Our primary purpose is to support AA groups and members in carrying the message to Deaf and hard-of-hearing alcoholics. Our work is in keeping with the guidelines from the General Service Office (GSO).
What We Do
We help AA groups carry the message to the Deaf alcoholic. We do this by hiring professional sign language interpreters for meetings and paying those interpreters for their service. We hire skilled interpreters who are familiar with AA and committed to anonymity.
We maintain a list of members willing to sponsor Deaf alcoholics. We maintain a list of Deaf members available to speak at or chair meetings. When a Deaf speaker is requested, we will send an interpreter for the meeting. We keep an up-to-date calendar of interpreted meetings and keep the sober Deaf community informed of changes.
How We Do It
We are the liaison between Deaf AA members and AA groups. Donations from AA groups, districts and individual AA members fund HCIA-DAC who pays for interpreters. In keeping with the traditions, HCIA-DAC has no other affiliation and accepts no outside contributions. Our service positions include a chairperson, secretary, treasurer, interpreter coordinator, event coordinator, webmaster and several members at large. We observe rotation of service and hold monthly business meetings that are open to all. We cooperate with AA as a whole and are a standing committee of Hill Country Intergroup Association – Deaf Access Committee.
How to Contribute
For AA Groups and Members:
Deaf and Hard of Hearing AA members need the fellowships’s assistance in order to both receive the message and be able to interact with other AA members and be a part of the group. HCIA-DAC exists in order to foster relationships between the hearing and the Deaf AA members and insure consistency of AA meetings with qualified interpreters. Because the financial burden of this is too much for any one AA member, or for any one home group, we are requesting that every AA group consider designating a portion of their 7th tradition funds toward our spiritual responsibility: When anyone, anywhere, reaches out for help, I want the hand of AA to be there!
Thanks to all who are willing to assist in carrying the message to our deaf AA members, who are reaching out for our help and want to have the same access to the message of hope as other members of our fellowship. Bill W. said, “When we are generous with the hat,we give a token that we are grateful for our blessings and evidence that we are eager to share what we have found with all who still suffer.”
If you would like a member of the HCIA-DAC committee to come speak to your group about the history and purpose of HCIA-DAC, answer questions, or find out how to help us, one of us will be happy to come to your group conscience.
Special Needs 7th Tradition Contributions:
To contribute toward our primary purpose in helping carry the message to our deaf AA members, some groups pass a separate basket designated for this purpose, and some groups set aside a specified amount per month or quarter. After consulting with your home group members, through the group conscience, please send designated amounts to the following address:
Deaf Access Committee
1825 Fortview Rd. ste #104
Austin, TX 78704
Group Name: _________________________________________
Donation: __________________
Individuals may contribute as well. If anyone would like additional information, please contact us at austindeafaccess@gmail.com.
The HCIA Deaf Access Committee exists to help Deaf people who want to get sober or stay sober be able to do that.
The HCIA Deaf Access Committee exists to help Deaf people who want to get sober or stay sober be able to do that. We believe that it is AA’s responsibility to help any alcoholic who suffers from our disease have access to the message. A Deaf person cannot have access to the message without interpreters, and most cannot afford an interpreter on a regular basis. DAC exists to provide both spiritual and financial support, for Deaf people to participate in AA, get a sponsor, and be part of our fellowship on a regular and on-going basis. Because an individual, especially a newly sober individual, cannot carry the financial burden of interpreters, and because a single group also cannot, we believe that the responsibility should be shared by all AA groups, to pool contributions ear-marked for this purpose, as has been done successfully in other parts of the United States.
Frequently Asked Questions
Also, Volunteer interpreters, while appreciated in a pinch, because they are not being paid, have the option not to show up.This is very disappointing for a Deaf person looking forward to the only meeting they may get, and not be able to comprehend anything being share in an meeting or be able to interact with others, contributing to the isolation they already feel due to their alcoholism.
seemed more willing to offer help to hearing newcomers than Deaf. And when the newcomer does show up instead of being welcomed back (like a hearing newcomer or someone that relapsed) some Deaf newcomers are greeted with resentment. “We paid an interpreter and you didn’t show up”.
And, sadly, sometimes the actions of a few are carried over to any Deaf newcomer that attends. DAC is trying hard to bridge the gap between hearing and Deaf AA members, so that there can Deaf people can have access to the message AND have relationships within the fellowship. There’s more to AA than just the meetings.
Presently the only AA literature available in ASL from the General Service Office is the first 164 pages of the Big Book (VS-1) and the Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions (VS-3). GSO is currently working on an even more accurate translation of the 4th Edition.For many AAs the key to their sobriety is having the opportunity to hear other AA members share their experience, strength, and hope in sobriety and service. Alcoholics who are Deaf have no access to AA stories and find very limited access to AA meetings, and service events, thus makes it difficult for them to learn how others members of AA stay sober and how do service work.
After a year and a half of showing growing results with our efforts to help AA, we joined Intergroup as a standing committee. You can read more about or history and purpose on our webpage.
“Our experience is that many group consciences of both open and closed meetings have agreed to allow professional non-A.A. ASL interpreters to translate for an A.A. member in their meetings. In order to help both newcomers and longtime A.A. members, some groups announce at the beginning of the meeting that the professional translator is bound by a code of ethics and that all interpreted communications are confidential. Some A.A. members have pointed out that an interpreter, like a wheelchair, is just a method or apparatus to help an A.A. member with special needs.”
GSO has more to share on this:
“GSO experience indicates that limiting an A.A. meeting to a narrow category of A.A. members may not allow the full, rich message of A.A. to be available. An example is a group that meets in a school where only young people with limited sobriety attend. They are not able to take advantage of longer time sobriety, experience, strength and hope. Our experience is that Deaf members report that attending regular ASL interpreted meetings of A.A. helps them with their spiritual condition and often helps them avoid the temptation to feel isolated and relapse.There have been attempts in the past to start up AA meetings conducted in ASL, but often these groups do not get input or feedback from old timers as to how to use the Traditions to keep it an AA meeting. The majority of the participants are new to sobriety and have had very limited exposure to AA meetings, service, and the AA traditions. These groups often do not have the experience, strength, and hope offered from AA meetings that have participants with long-term sobriety and
experience in service.”
Aside from this, we do not believe it is the state’s job to help Deaf alcoholics, but our duty. Our responsibility statement “Anytime,Anywhere, when anyone reaches out for help, I want the hand of AA be there!! And for that: I am responsible! “was written for the 1965 A.A. International Convention in Toronto. by identifies former AA trustee, Al S. He wrote an article in our International Newsletter Box 459 this: We must remember that AA will continue strong only so long as each of us freely and happily gives it away to another person, only as each of us takes our fair share of responsibility for sponsorship of those who still suffer, for the growth and integrity of our Group, for our Intergroup activities, and for AA as a whole. It is in taking responsibility that real freedom and the enduring satisfactions of life are found. AA has given us the power to choose – to drink or not to drink – and in doing so has given us the freedom to be responsible for ourselves. As we become responsible for ourselves, we are free to be responsible for our share in AA, and unless we happily accept this responsibility we lose AA.
So we are a truly a fellowship of equals, how do we level the playing field for the Deaf Alcoholic? We believe that the DAC provides the answer to this, as well as other committees around the United States that now has a strong Deaf sober community that have merged with the hearing community in AA.
The bi-lingual community here in Texas went through a similar history, 10 years ago, and are now strong and thriving in their Spanish Districts, because the hand of AA was there, and paid for the translator equipment we continue to use at our Area meetings. But it started with one alcoholic talking to another. One day, perhaps we will have a Deaf District here in Austin.That will be up to us all, and whether we can live up to the spiritual principles set by our predecessors.
person has a clear view of the interpreter. The interpreter also needs to be able to hear well to translate. Sitting in the corner of the back of the room doesn’t work well.
We also need people available to sponsor Deaf AA members. Signing is not required for any of this, just willingness. There is ample technology available to help people get past language barriers, such as:
TTY (also known as a TDD – Telecommunication Device for the Deaf):
Equipped with a keyboard and small visual display, this device enables users to type their messages and send them over the phone lines.
Relay Service: If the person on one end of a phone call uses a TTY and the person on the other end uses a regular (speaking) telephone, the services of a relay operator are needed. All telephone companies now provide this service free of charge.
Internet & Video Relay is a free service for Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals to place and receive text-based relay calls using a computer or mobile device. It enables Deaf or hard of hearing persons who sign to communicate with hearing
persons through video conference equipment like web cameras or video phones features.
Different people use different devices, so it is an individual preference as to which way is most comfortable for the Deaf newcomer.. Face to face interaction is a must, though, to feel part of the fellowship. In that case, use of a computer or handwritten notes will sometimes suffice.There are plenty of opportunities for individuals who would like to pick up basic sign language if they wish, through the local universities or on-line. Again, willingness, is the key!!
meetings, visit the Austin Deaf Access Website.