Apache ASL Trails Residents Worry Feds Will Evict Them

TEMPE (CBS5) - Apache ASL Trails residents worry feds will evict them.



It's a one of kind award winning Valley community making a big difference in the lives of the disabled.



But now, some residents of the Apache ASL Trails senior living complex in Tempe, Arizona are worried that the federal government will soon ask them to move out.



The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development claims that Apache ASL Trails is violating the Fair Housing Act by having too many Deaf people in the same complex.

The complex is accused of discriminating against other disabled and non-disabled people by not giving them an equal shot to live there.



The unique 75-unit facility which opened last year has received national recognition as one of the country's best special-needs housing projects. Each room is specially designed to help Deaf residents. Strobe lights and visual cues are built in everywhere, including door bells and fire alarms.



Property Manager Linda Russell told CBS5 that they don't discriminate against anyone, but now, a number of residents are worried the federal government will force them to move out. Read more: http://www.kpho.com/story/20320760/valley-deaf-residents-worry-feds-will-evict-them



Source: kpho.com

Deaf Residents Worry Feds Will Evict Them

TEMPE, AZ (CBS5 Video) - Valley Deaf residents worry feds will evict them.



It's a one-of-kind award winning Valley community making a big difference in the lives of the disabled.



But now, some residents of the Apache ASL Trails senior living complex in Tempe are worried that the federal government will soon ask them to move out.



The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development claims that Apache ASL Trails is violating the Fair Housing Act by having too many Deaf people in the same complex.



The complex is accused of discriminating against other disabled and non-disabled people by not giving them an equal shot to live there.



The unique 75-unit facility which opened last year has received national recognition as one of the country's best special-needs housing projects. Each room is specially designed to help Deaf residents. Strobe lights and visual cues are built in everywhere, including door bells and fire alarms.



Property Manager Linda Russell told CBS5 that they don't discriminate against anyone, but now, a number of residents are worried the federal government will force them to move out. Read more: http://www.kpho.com/story/20320760/valley-deaf-residents-worry-feds-will-evict-them

Source: kpho.com

Rochester's Deaf Population Among Largest Per Capita in U.S.

ROCHESTER, NY. - Rochester has more Deaf and Hard of Hearing residents per capita than the national average and a larger Deaf population than many other similarly sized cities, a new report out of Rochester Institute of Technology has found.



Rochester’s sizable Deaf community has often been assumed but was never quantified until the report, written by Gerard Walter and Richard Dirmyer from RIT’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf.



The study found other cities have more total Deaf residents per capita, but among college and working aged people, Rochester has one of the largest populations in the country. In particular, the study found Rochester has far and away the highest percentage of Deaf residents enrolled in secondary education, likely driven by NTID.



“Often times it’s difficult to understand how many people are really in the community,” said Thomas Pearson, director of the National Center for Deaf Health Research at the University of Rochester. “This has been a real challenge for anyone interested in the field.”



Using American Community Survey data, Walter and Dirmyer found there are 43,000 Deaf or Hard of Hearing residents in the Rochester metro area, about 3.7 percent of the population. That’s higher than the national average, which is 3.5 percent.



Rochester doesn’t have the highest population per capita as is often suggested, however. The report only looked at a handful of cities, but found 3.9 percent of Pittsburgh’s population is Deaf or Hard of Hearing. The authors of the report attribute that to more elderly residents living in Pittsburgh than in Rochester, and the onset of age-related deafness.



Read more: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20120925/NEWS01/309250048/Rochester-Institute-of-Technology-deaf?odyssey=nav|head



Related News - Wham ABC: http://www.13wham.com/news/local/story/Study-Rochester-Has-Largest-Deaf-Community/NIohNf_5HkSnV30z7zDwdg.cspx



RIT-NTID News: http://www.ntid.rit.edu/news/rochester-areas-deaf-population-better-defined



RocWiki blog: http://rocwiki.org/Deaf_Community