Our Mission
The purpose of the Association is to safeguard, maintain, and advance the civic, cultural, economic and social welfare of people who are deaf and hard of hearing residing in the state of New Hampshire.
Our History
NHAD was originally established in 1930 in response to a specific purpose. Max Cohen, a deaf printer, moved to New Hampshire in 1929 to work at the Ramrod Press. To his amazement, he learned that deaf people in New Hampshire were prohibited from driving due to “safety issues”. This was incredible to him, as most states had by that time already recognized the rights of deaf people to operate cars.
Appealing to the State Commissioner of Motor Vehicles on his own behalf proved fruitless. Mr. Cohen decided that a statewide coalition of deaf people was necessary to change this situation. The small group of twenty deaf individuals applied pressure to local politicians and provided testimony to the safety records of deaf drivers in other states. They were rewarded with the passage of a law in 1931 granting the right of deaf people to operate motor vehicles in New Hampshire.
The group then decided to focus on the establishment of a school for the deaf within the state. At that point, most deaf children were educated as far away as Canada. Deaf children not exhibiting great potential were often warehoused at the Laconia State School. Children educated out of state often remained out of state upon completion of their education, continually depleting the state of an educated deaf population.
A small victory was won when the fledgling NHAD coalition influenced the State Board of Public Welfare to transfer responsibility of the education of deaf children to the more appropriated Board of Education. This again required legislative effort which was successful. The NHAD later persuaded the Board of Education to educate deaf children closer to home. World War II put a damper on the efforts to establish a school for the deaf in the state. To this day, no such school exists. Unfortunately the economic demands of World War II forced the focus of our deaf population away from the activities of NHAD and the organization eventually disbanded. But this tiny band of dedicated individuals instituted many benefits that deaf children of New Hampshire still enjoy to this day.
In 1975 the NHAD was formally re-organized by Hartmut Teuber and Norman Lafond in response to increased awareness of the needs of deaf people. With the passage of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the deaf were guaranteed the right to have sign language interpreters present when dealing with any organization or agency. Although this law was on the books, flagrant violations caused a deaf group to author an interpreter law for New Hampshire further protecting the rights of deaf individuals at the state level. The law was passed in 1977. That same year NHAD hosted the National Association of the Deaf’s Region 1 Convention, held in Keene NH, after becoming affiliated with this national organization.
Since that time, the NHAD has remained a volunteer organization, whose officers are all deaf or hard of hearing. We have worked diligently to promote the economical, educational, cultural and social welfare of the deaf in New Hampshire. Parents of the deaf, sign language interpreters and interested hearing people are also involved. NHAD’s commitment is to the advancement of the deaf population residing in New Hampshire.