Daisy Cartwright has a lifelong passion for the welfare of deaf and hard of hearing children and community, and advocates for their rights. Ever since she completed college 40 years ago, she has devoted herself to volunteer service. She was among the first group of Peace Corps volunteers and was stationed in the Philippines. Since then, Daisy has traveled abroad and worked at different schools for the deaf with her husband. Her dedication, energy, and enthusiasm never fades. Her leadership style is inclusive, innovative, and creative. Daisy is a retired counselor from Alaska and has always dedicated her life to community service and advocating, especially for deaf youth.
Her passion is in working with families with deaf children and for their families to have all the resources necessary to raise successful bilingual deaf children. In fact, she was the inspiration for one of VL2’s newest initiatives, Signwise, that will provide family-centered reviews of any educational materials in ASL for deaf and hard of hearing children.
Currently, she goes “the extra mile” in her part-time job at the Arizona Schools for the Deaf and Blind (ASDB) as an on-call itinerant teacher and ASL teacher. She also works as a family mentor, serving the northern region of Arizona, which has her traveling to be a resource for parents of deaf babies. Additionally, Daisy is on the board of the Arizona Association of the Deaf and is the team leader of the LEAD-K Arizona committee. She has the ability to engage in the community as she gives presentations on the LEAD-K Arizona/Early Intervention-Kindergarten Readiness all over the state. The current proposal has been modified in order to accommodate the blind and visually challenged children as well as deaf children enrolled at ASDB. Thanks to Daisy’s work with the core committee, ASDB took an active role in this proposal.
When not working with deaf children and their families, Daisy enjoys hiking, and spending time with her husband, Alan, and their cats.
Daisy, thank your for always rolling up your sleeves and working on every detail for our deaf and hard of hearing children.
The NAD gives monthly #NADhandwaves to people in our community. This is a great opportunity for the NAD to recognize exemplary people or the work they do. With such great people, the world continues to progress. If you know someone who deserves a #NADHandwave, submit your suggestions online!