Welcome to Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services

SULPHUR — Eight seniors will graduate May 20 from the Oklahoma School for the Deaf during a commencement ceremony at 1 p.m. in the Ken Brown Gymnasium.

OSD is located at 1100 East Oklahoma Ave. in Sulphur. 

MUSKOGEE — Fifteen students will graduate May 14 from the Oklahoma School for the Blind during a commencement ceremony at 1:30 p.m. in the school’s gymnasium.

OSB is located at 3300 Gibson Street in Muskogee.

Oklahoma City—Four open seats on the commission overseeing the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services have now been filled, bringing the total number of commissioners to seven.   

Noel Tyler, Lance Robertson, Lindsay Hanna and Kevin Wallace joined existing commissioners Theresa Flannery of Mustang, Kelsey Lee of Davis and Janet Barresi of Edmond in serving on the board.

SULPHUR - History was made in an 1894 football game at Washington D.C.’s Gallaudet University, which is a college for students who are Deaf and hard of hearing.

Gallaudet’s quarterback Paul D. Hubbard did not want the opposing players from the other Deaf team to see him communicating plays during the game. To prevent this, he asked the Gallaudet players on the field to form a tight circle so he could speak with his teammates in American Sign Language without the other team seeing. This became known as a huddle.

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Accessible Instructional Materials Center is working to ensure that print-disabled students across Oklahoma have what they need to succeed in their classrooms as they return to school this fall.

The AIM Center, which is part of the Oklahoma Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, provides free specialized school supplies for students who are blind, have visual impairments, have certain physical handicaps or have reading disabilities. 

OKLAHOMA CITY —A new program designed to help clients who are visually impaired find employment kicks off this fall. It’s called Employment VIBE and is part of the Visually Impaired and Blindness Empowerment program or VIBE. The program is offered by the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services.

“This program is for clients ages 18 and up,” said Cheryl Snow, programs manager in DRS’ division of Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired. “We will kick start Employment VIBE in the fall, and it’s specifically for clients who have already learned adaptive skills and are ready for employment.”