Some of you have asked questions and offered suggestion, thank you.  The situation of Deaf in AA highlights some very basic characteristics of AA that almost nobody realises.  Perhaps if we have some discussion here the light will spread.

In 2000 I became General Service Representative for the Better Attitudes Group and attended General Service district meetings, area quarterly meetings and Special Needs Committee meetings.  Sign Language Interpreters helped me at all of those meetings.  A little over a month ago I became GSR for the As Bill Sees It Group.  I asked for an interpreter for the District General Service meeting and my request was denied.  The meeting was last Saturday, I went but left when I saw that there was going to be no interpreter.  Because I am Deaf, I have been denied participation in AA General Service.  How can that happen?  The answer as always, is in the spiritual dimension but there are two main facts in the physical world that point to the answer.  In 2000 when Deaf could participate there was no AA advertising and there was no Linguistics Committee.  I'm not judging those things good or bad, just saying that they show the direction of the AA Body Politic.

An AA group is a gathering of men and women who come together to share their experience, strengths and hopes with each other that they may solve their common problem of alcoholism.  AA committees do not come together for the same purpose.  The group is a collective consciousness because of the common intention of its members.  Committees and boards are a collective unconsciousness and therefore a gathering of egos.  Egos only have one intention and that is to strengthen its self individually.  When they see an opportunity to strengthen themselves individually by joining with others, they are attracted to the service boards and committees.  The AA Body Politic is simply a collection of egos promoting themselves.  That explains why in spite of a tradition that says "Our public relations policy is based upon attraction rather than promotion", we have Bill Board Advertising and why we have  Linguistics Committees that only speaks Spanish.  Not very many of those egos can see how providing access to Deaf will strengthen it.  The only way they will see that is for the rest of us to raise our consciousness and express our intentions to those egos.  Yes, there are many things that could be done.  But none of those things will be done by the committees and boards until those egos see either, that they can strengthen themselves and look good or that they cannot survive unless they do those things.

So, there are a number of directions this discussion can go.  The topic might be "Primary Purpose".  The good news is that my group has embraced me and is supporting me in many ways including by providing an interpreter for our meetings.