Growing up, I was always involved in the deaf community.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I have always aspired to be the type of role model who can bridge the deaf and hearing communities.
I am fourth-generation deaf, which means everyone in my immediate family is deaf. So I grew up always having 100 percent accessibility to language and communication, which was wonderful and something so many deaf people don't have.
I placed over a thousand deaf people in jobs throughout my career working for the deaf.
One of the reasons I wanted to teach deaf children was because it made me very sad that they spoke so clumsily and that they moved with less grace that I knew was possible of deaf people.
After becoming deaf, I realized that I'd better get an education if I was ever to do anything with my life.
I actually then went on to direct an after-school special where one of the characters was deaf. They hired me without even knowing I had any connection to the community.
I've always wanted to write a book relating my experiences growing up as a deaf child in Chicago. Contrary to what people might think, it wasn't all about hearing aids and speech classes or frustrations.
I started to realize that there are a lot of people who are unaware of deaf culture, and I've been given a great platform to reframe the deaf community.
When I was young I knew I was deaf. I couldn't accept it.
The deaf community and the hearing community, there's not always a ton of interaction.