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State of
Michigan press release, December 19, 2008
Sheryl D. Emery, M.A., has been named as
director of the Division on Deaf & Hard of Hearing (DODHH). She
will also serve as assistant director of the Commission on
Disability Concerns and senior staff liaison to the DODHH
governor-appointed advisory council.
“Sheryl has the extensive knowledge and experience we need to
advance the indisputable rights of 1.4 million deaf and hard of
hearing individuals in Michigan,” said Department of Labor &
Economic Growth (DLEG) Director Stanley “Skip” Pruss. “Providing
equal access to accurate communication is priority #1 for Sheryl
which will help ensure all of our citizens can succeed in
education and employment opportunities as we continue to
transform Michigan’s economy.”
As director of DODHH, Emery will oversee the testing and
certification of sign language interpreters seeking Quality
Assurance level certification from the state of Michigan now
required by law, Public Acts 23 and 24 of 2007, which amended PA
204 of 1982, the Deaf Persons’ Interpreters Act. This
legislation calls for interpreters to be certified by DODHH to
work in the state of Michigan and also fines interpreters and
appointing authorities in violation of the law. Emery will also
work with all state departments to ensure adequate accommodation
strategies for deaf and hard of hearing consumers.
Emery was previously assistant director of Deaf C.A.N.
(Community Advocacy Network) located in Sylvan Lake, MI. From
1987-2000, she worked as a vocational rehabilitation counselor
for the deaf with Michigan Rehabilitation Services (MRS) in Mt.
Clemens, Clinton Township, and Warren, MI. During her 13-year
tenure with MRS, she placed hundreds of deaf and hard of hearing
people into employment and helped them to attain access to
technical or liberal arts college education.
Emery has also served on the state mental health advisory board
on deafness, the Division on Deafness Advisory Board, National
Missions Advisory Panel and as a consultant for the National
Council on Interpreting. In 1982, at age 23, Emery became the
first national director of National Black Deaf Advocates (NBDA),
the oldest and largest consumer and advocacy organization
serving thousands of deaf and hard of hearing African-Americans.
A native of Kansas City, Mo., Sheryl received an associate's
degree from Johnson County Community College, a bachelor's
degree in social work from Gallaudet University, and a master's
degree in rehabilitation from New York University.
The DODHH was established by P.A. 72 of 1937 as the Division of
Deaf and Deafened. In 2002 it was renamed to the Division on
Deaf and Hard of Hearing by Executive Order and provides such
services as technical support, workplace assessment, barrier
free consultation, information and referrals, accommodations,
interpreter information and services, and research and
statistics.
The DODHH is an agency within the Department of Labor & Economic
Growth (DLEG), Michigan Commission on Disability Concerns (MCDC),
which was created in 1949 by Gov. G. Mennen Williams and
established under state law by P.A. 11 in 1968. MCDC provides
statewide leadership to empower and integrate people with
disabilities into all aspects of society and serves as the only
state agency that responds to issues impacting all of Michigan’s
1.9 million citizens with disabilities.
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