Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) people who have higher educational attainment have better employment outcomes (Dammeyer, et. al, 2019; Garberoglio et. al, 2019). Employment outcomes and career advancement for DHH people in ASEAN countries, however, still lags behind many other nations. Further, Deaf people still face significant barriers to employment due to lack of language and communication access. This is exacerbated by limited training opportunities and the lack of awareness among prospective employers. Amid the pandemic of 2020, many DHH people in Southeast Asia who were employed, particularly those in the service industry, lost their jobs. The swift change to virtual and remote technologies combined with very different ways of doing business now means DHH people need a variety of educational opportunities for retraining and obtaining new, in-demand skills.
With generous support from the Nippon Foundation of Japan, the National Technical Institute for the Deaf created the Growing Regional Opportunities for Work for the Deaf (DeafGROW) project. This five-year grant is to create employment centers in the Philippines and Vietnam to provide continuing education for DHH youth and adults and training for industry partners. During Year 1 of the project, DeafGROW conducted two baseline studies with DHH community members and companies on the current barriers and opportunities for employment. The findings from this research was used to design a series of trainings for DHH youth and adults and to modify university curricula to better meet the needs of employers. In this symposium we will provide five presentations about our current initiatives and their positive outcomes in improving employment opportunities for DHH people in the Philippines and Viet Nam.