The Minnesota Speaking DeafBlind Group
Great Reading courtesy of Mark G. Hubers
An engineer with Usher Syndrome digs through medical journals and writes about what the system misses.
Mark's Substack Site here
Click on the Buttons below to Learn More.
One Patient, 50 Trials, and the Guidance Gap That Affects Us All
I thought this one would be easy to write. It wasn't.
What losing your sight does to the brain. Not the eyes. The brain.
SCAMS, FRAUD AND ABUSE
VIDEO LINKS
Senior Linkage Line video with ASL Interpreter and CC: (39 min)
https://youtu.be/KdC7QYxleD4?si=Ubd3Q3_oOYqAdSxc
AARP video: – short story from a gift card scam victim with CC: (it is 2.5 min long, will have interpreter)
https://www.aarp.org/videos/money/scams-fraud/6324962393112/?autoStart=tru
Sorenson Tips: Scam (ASL and CC)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caXSaYmTAXE
IRS video:
ASL: Tax Scams via Video Relay Service (VRS) (Captions & Audio)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHYB-g-pTTc
Social Security: (imposter scam video) Protect Yourself from Social Security Scams | SSA
IDENTITY THEFT
National Disability Institute: Identity theft and scams: Avoiding Identity Theft | Financial Resources for People with Disabilities
https://www.nationaldisabilityinstitute.org/financial-resilience-center/identity-theft/
Deaf & Hard-of-Hearing | Financial Resources for People with Disabilities
https://www.nationaldisabilityinstitute.org/financial-resilience-center/deaf-resources/
Recovery Steps
https://www.identitytheft.gov/Steps
Help for identity theft crime victims | Minnesota Department of Public Safety
https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/ojp/for-crime-victims/finding-help/help-identity-theft-crime-victims
Minnesota-ID-Theft-Toolkit.docx
Guarding Your Privacy
https://www.ag.state.mn.us/consumer/Handbooks/GuardingYPrivacy/default.asp
Identity Theft & Computers
https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Consumer/IdentityTheft/Default.asp
Personal Information Breaches
https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Consumer/Publications/PersonalInformationBreaches.asp
Taking Action: Identity Theft Victim Recovery Checklist
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Minnesota DeafBlind Association (MDBA)
Since 1979, the Minnesota DeafBlind Association (MDBA) has been the only DeafBlind-led nonprofit organization in Minnesota dedicated to providing information, education, advocacy, and services for DeafBlind people and their communities.
LEARN MORE:
Minnesota DeafBlind Association (MDBA)(opens in new tab)
IRS: Identity thieves use video relay services to try to scam deaf and hard of hearing people
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/oc-id-theft-scam.pdf
Scam, Fraud Alerts - Protect Your Digital Identity
https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/
Artificial Intelligence scams:
What Scams Are Done Using AI?
https://www.ncoa.org/article/what-are-ai-scams-a-guide-for-older-adults/
AI and Fraud: What Older Americans Need to Know | USSFCU | Washington, D.C. - Alexandria VA - Bethesda, MD
What Are Deepfake Scams and How Do I Spot Them?
https://www.ncoa.org/article/understanding-deepfakes-what-older-adults-need-to-know/
AI-Guide-for-Older-Adults_Dig.pdf
https://seniorplanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/AI-Guide-for-Older-Adults_Dig.pdf
The Usher Syndrome Coalition is the core of the global Usher syndrome community, working to connect those living with Usher syndrome to resources, research, and each other. LEARN MORE HERE
ADVOCACY SERVICE
Services for hearing loss community: Get Help – ThinkSelf Minnesota
State by state disability law centers contacts
Alabama — Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program — adap@adap.ua.edu
Alaska — Disability Law Center of Alaska — akpa@dlcak.org
Arizona — Arizona Center for Disability Law — center@azdisabilitylaw.org
Arkansas — Disability Rights Arkansas — info@disabilityrightsar.org
California — Disability Rights California — legalhelp@disabilityrightsca.org
Colorado — Disability Law Colorado — dlcmail@disabilitylawco.org
Connecticut — Disability Rights Connecticut — info@disrightsct.org
Delaware — Disabilities Law Program (Community Legal Aid Society) — datkins@declasi.org
Florida — Disability Rights Florida — advocate@disabilityrightsflorida.org
Georgia — Georgia Advocacy Office — info@thegao.org
Hawaii — Disability Rights Hawaii — info@drhawaii.org
Idaho — Disability Rights Idaho — info@disabilityrightsidaho.org
Illinois — Equip for Equality — equipforequality@equipforequality.org
Indiana — Indiana Disability Rights — info@indianadisabilityrights.org
Iowa — Disability Rights Iowa — info@disabilityrightsiowa.org
Kansas — Disability Rights Center of Kansas — info@drckansas.org
Kentucky — Kentucky Protection & Advocacy — KYPandAinquiry@gmail.com
Louisiana — Disability Rights Louisiana — info@disabilityrightsla.org
Maine — Disability Rights Maine — advocate@drme.org
Maryland — Disability Rights Maryland — virginiak@mdlclaw.org
Massachusetts — Disability Law Center — mail@dlc-ma.org
Michigan — Disability Rights Michigan — mroberts@mpas.org
Minnesota — Minnesota Disability Law Center — dschaffer@mylegalaid.org
Mississippi — Disability Rights Mississippi — amaclaine@drms.ms
Missouri — Missouri Protection and Advocacy Services — mopasjc@earthlink.net
Montana — Disability Rights Montana — advocate@disabilityrightsmt.org
Nebraska — Disability Rights Nebraska — info@disabilityrightsnebraska.org
Nevada — Nevada Disability Advocacy & Law Center — lasvegas@ndalc.org
New Hampshire — Disabilities Rights Center New Hampshire — advocacy@drcnh.org
New Jersey — Disability Rights New Jersey — advocate@drnj.org
New Mexico — Disability Rights New Mexico — info@drnm.org
New York — Disability Rights New York — mail@drny.org
North Carolina — Disability Rights North Carolina — info@disabilityrightsnc.org
North Dakota — Disability Rights North Dakota — info@drnd.org
Ohio — Disability Rights Ohio — disabilityrightsohio@disabilityrightsohio.org
Oklahoma — Oklahoma Disability Law Center — info@okdlc.org
Oregon — Disability Rights Oregon — welcome@droregon.org
Pennsylvania — Disability Rights Pennsylvania — intake@disabilityrightspa.org
Rhode Island — Disability Rights Rhode Island — info@drri.org
South Carolina — Protection and Advocacy for People with Disabilities — info@pandasc.org
South Dakota — Disability Rights South Dakota — sdas@sdadvocacy.com
Tennessee — Disability Rights Tennessee — gethelp@disabilityrightstn.org
Texas — Disability Rights Texas — mfaithfull@disabilityrightstx.org
Utah — Disability Law Center — azahradnikova@disabilitylawcenter.org
Vermont — Disability Rights Vermont — info@disabilityrightsvt.org
Virginia — disAbility Law Center of Virginia — info@dlcv.org
Washington — Disability Rights Washington — info@dr-wa.org
West Virginia — Disability Rights of West Virginia — info@drofwv.org
Wisconsin — Disability Rights Wisconsin — info@disabilityrightswi.org
Wyoming — Wyoming Protection & Advocacy System — wyoming@wpsn.org