American Sign Language Organization

Join us October 19, 2021 at 7pm to hear from Anita Dowd, a Deaf, Executive Staff Advisor for the Kentucky Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (KCDHH).

Students, please be sure to register for the event using our ASL Event Registration page (registration closes October 18 at 7pm); non-students, please contact aslo@wku.edu.

Anita Dowd

Anita Dowd, deaf since childhood, is the Executive Staff Advisor at the Kentucky Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Not only is she an advocate for the deaf and hard of hearing community in her professional life, but as the mother of two girls who also have a hearing loss, she is also extremely passionate about promoting awareness of various deaf and hard of hearing issues in her personal life as well.

Though she has lived with a hearing loss since a young age, it wasn't until she became an adult and had two children with a hearing loss that she truly recognized and understood the diverse issues that deaf and hard of hearing people face today. She advocates a multi-faceted approach to these issues as she firmly believes that there is no "one size fits all" solution to the barriers that deaf and hard of hearing individuals face in their lives.

Anita is passionate about working with families who have deaf and hard of hearing children and is the current president of the Kentucky Chapter of Hands & Voices and sits on the national Hands & Voices board of directors.

Anita stays busy presenting across Kentucky and the U.S. Her favorite pastime is talking so she loves the opportunity to talk to anyone, anywhere, about anything. She has presented on numerous topics related to hearing loss, anything from Advocacy to the Whole Child. No topic is safe because she loves to talk, learn and share.

She currently lives in a small town in Kentucky and when not working she keeps busy collecting crafting supplies in hopes that someday she will have time to actually make something with them.