Steve Hamerdinger
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University of Kansas
Gallaudet University (MA)
- Deaf professional
- advocate
Steven Hamerdinger | |
|---|---|
 Steve Hamerdinger, 2019 | |
| Born | Maryland, U.S. |
| Education | Temple Deaf College (BA) University of Kansas Gallaudet University (MA) |
| Occupations |
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Steve Hamerdinger is an American deaf professional and advocate for deaf and hard of hearing people. He served as the Director of Deaf Services for the Alabama Department of Mental Health until he retired in March 2024. His work revolves around contexts related to deaf and hard of hearing persons and their mental well-being from childhood to end of life.[1][2] He is an advocate for Deaf rights and has been a prominent influence in this field since the early 1980s.[3]
Steve Hamerdinger earned his B.A. from Temple Deaf College in 1977. He completed coursework on Educational Psychology and Human Development at University of Kansas, and completed a Master's of Arts in Counseling in 1989 from Gallaudet University.[4]
Professional work
At the New Mexico School for the Deaf, Hamerdinger worked as a child therapist beginning in 1989, establishing a then novel in-school mental health program. His work there focused on deaf children and their families.
He helped establish the New Mexico Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. He was also a past president of the New Mexico Association of the Deaf. Before moving to Alabama in 2003, Hamerdinger was the Director of the Office of Deaf and Linguistic Support Services at the Missouri Department of Mental Health.
In 2009, Hamerdinger was appointed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as a representative at the International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership Network on Mental Health and Deaf Individuals.
Hamerdinger, is a past-President of the American Deafness and Rehabilitation Association.
As the former director of Deaf Services in the Alabama Department of Mental Health, Hamerdinger worked to make sure that services were provided to deaf people with mental illnesses in Alabama. The services his department offer included consulting, advocacy, and teaching and continued education.[5] The purpose behind their program is for deaf people to be assisted with their mental health by counselors who also know American Sign Language.[6]