Demir knows it can be frustrating when moving to America from another country -- which is why he volunteers at the Deaf Adults Education Access Program (DAEAP) to make sure other people don't have the same experience as him. #DeafAtWork

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[VIDEO DESC & TRANSCRIPT: Demir is seated in front of a classroom. The NAD logo is at the bottom right corner.

DEMIR: When I was younger, I dreamt of moving to America. Then when I moved here, I faced so many barriers because I didn’t know English or American Sign Language (ASL). I wanted to learn but I didn’t know how or where to start. After two years, I finally met an older deaf woman that helped teach me ASL. I met many deaf people who wouldn’t help me because I was a European immigrant. When they didn’t understand me, they’d ignore me. It was frustrating but I kept learning ASL. Eventually, when I saw some deaf people again, they were shocked at how much my ASL skills improved! I see so many foreigners who move to America that struggle with their sign language or English skills, so when I learned of this opportunity, I knew we needed this school. It is important to have a space to encourage people. This program has helped so many people! I didn’t want my experience to be the same for others who also moved to America. The fact is the more they learn, the more successful they’ll be!

Black and white clip of Demir with a student. In the center, a white border surrounds white text “DEMIR” underneath, appears in white text “PRESIDENT & DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS”.

DEMIR: My name is Demir Bekiri, I work at the Deaf Adults Education Access Program (DAEAP).

Black and white clip of Demir signing with a person with their back to the camera.

DEMIR: Many foreigners come to America and many of them need support in various aspects such as learning how to interview, studying English, and be prepared for the U.S. Citizenship application process. In 1996, a hearing woman named Maureen Philbin and a deaf man named Bob Paul wanted to have a school for foreigners to go to for different reasons because they noticed there has never been a program for them. Maureen and Bob decided to start this school, I got involved because I knew many deaf foreigners here and I knew I could help.

Black and white clip of Demir signing to someone off screen.

DEMIR: I decided to get involved because when I moved to America in 1974, I didn’t know any English, I didn’t know any ASL, and I didn’t know a thing about the U.S. Citizenship application process. I had to navigate on my own. I remember asking deaf schools and universities for help but many were not able to. It was very frustrating. I had to self-advocate for a long time. When this program was founded, I knew it was very important to help. Since the school opened in 1996, we have had a 100% success rate of our students who passed the U.S. Citizenship test. This is a really good school!

Black and white clip of Demir in a break room washing dishes.

DEMIR: I am the Director of Operations here, I set up for various classes -- we have U.S. Citizenship test classes, English classes, basic English classes, writing and signing classes, and so on. I handle outreach which means I send out emails and coordinate radio ads to encourage people to join DAEAP. From there, I receive a lot of interest via email and contact them back with more information. It’s important to get the word out about DAEAP because we know there are some hearing parents who are afraid to send their deaf children here which we understand because of cultural differences -- we want them to come here because they should and we welcome everybody!

Black and white clip of Demir organizing papers on a table. White text appears at the bottom center, “There’s no other program like DAEAP in America, DAEAP here in Illinois is the only one of its kind!” Light blue text “- Demir” and a light blue line outlines the left side of the text.

DEMIR: We’ve had some out of state people participate in our program, there was one from Wisconsin who joined our program to study for the U.S. Citizenship test. Unfortunately there’s no other deaf program like DAEAP elsewhere. We had one student from Indianapolis! They both passed actually. We also pay our teachers. In fact, our teachers are Americans which helps the program’s success rate.

Black and white clip of Demir signing with someone off screen.

DEMIR: This is the only of its kind in America! I volunteer because many deaf foreigners need this kind of access and this is the right place for it.

Black and white clip of Demir locking up the DAEAP front doors. Video cuts to a dark blue background. Red alphabet letters of "N-A-D" in American Sign Language appear one by one in the center of the video. The copyright text appears in white underneath, "National Association of the Deaf, Copyright 2020, All Rights Reserved".]