About

About ASL-STAR

The team dedicated to building the ASL-STAR online tool is part of the Substance Abuse Resources and Disability Issues (SARDI) Program. SARDI is located in the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences in the Boonshoft School of Medicine at Wright State University in Dayton Ohio. They have been at the forefront of developing technology-based services for individuals with disabilities for over a decade, producing:

  • Deaf Off Drugs and Alcohol (DODA), a website that permits deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals to attend online 12 Step and Al-ANON meetings with others who are struggling with substance use disorders;
  • eCAM, an online portal that allowed counselors to meet online with individuals with disabilities who have transportation barriers;
  • VR Online, a website that provides a portal for counselors to meet with Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) consumers, as well as other resources for VR counselors and consumers;
  • CareText, an automated SBIRT follow-up application that routinely sends text messages via patients’ cell phones reminding them about their readiness and willingness to change their substance abuse related behaviors;
  • Virtual Office Space (VOS), a virtual-reality-enhanced desktop for individuals with low vision.

SARDI Team members:

Josephine F. Wilson, D.D.S., Ph.D., Project Director and Professor, Department of Population & Public Health Sciences, Boonshoft School of Medicine, Wright State University (WSU).

Jared Embree, M.A., Project Manager, SARDI Program, Population & Public Health Sciences, Boonshoft School of Medicine, WSU.

Kathryn Copley Taylor, AAS, BA, NAD III, Project Coordinator, SARDI Program, Population & Public Health Sciences, Boonshoft School of Medicine, WSU.

Jeremy Trim, Technology Director, SARDI Program Population & Public Health Sciences, Boonshoft School of Medicine, WSU.

Expert Panel:

The SARDI Team could not have developed and continue to provide the services it makes available online without the assistance of its Expert Panel.

Deb Guthmann, Ed.D., Expert Panel Team Leader, Lead Project Consultant, SARDI Program, Population & Public Health Sciences, Boonshoft School of Medicine, WSU

Steven R. Sligar, Ed.D., CVE, PVE, Professor, Department of Addictions and Rehabilitation Studies, College of Allied Health Sciences, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC.

Janet Titus, Ph.D., Research Consultant: Psychometrics, Deafness, and Linguistic Adaptation, SARDI Program, Population & Public Health Sciences, Boonshoft School of Medicine, WSU.

Michelle Niehaus, LCSW, Program Administrator, Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services, Kentucky Division of Behavioral Health.

Annie Welch, M.A., Instructor, American Sign Language & Sign Language Interpreting Program, Wright State University.

Signing Models:

Deron Emmons, MSW, signed the videos that comprise the behavioral health and occupational interest instruments in American Sign Language (ASL) on the ASL-STAR website. Deron is the founder and owner of an ASL interpreting service, Interpreters of the Deaf, LLC, and CEO of Deaf Community Resource Center in Dayton, OH. He also operates the Only Deaf-owned and operated KODA Camp in Ohio for youth who have deaf parents.

Other members of the Deaf community in Montgomery County, OH, have given their time and talent to sign the 366 Daily Thoughts, 366 Daily Prayers, and 366 Daily Meditations on the DODA website (www.dodarecovery.org). A special thanks to Annie Welch and Barbara Dunaway, faculty members in WSU’s American Sign Language & Sign Language Interpreting Program, for signing instructions on the ASL-STAR website. We also want to thank Noreen Yates for her participation on the translation team as well as all the people from across the United States involved in the back translation, cognitive debriefing, and field testing of the instruments included on the ASL-STAR portal.