Hi! A bit about myself… I grew up in NJ, in a family of 7. My family was only familiarized with the Audio/Verbal approach so I learned how to talk, listen and read lips. There are no other deaf members within the family or generations.
My family is very involved with different community events and activities and it became a passion on my own! I love to give back or share my passion with others! When there’s a smile, I’m happy! My favorite childhood memories revolve a lot around my dad’s Magic and Costume Shop! A lot of fun, and became a social butterfly from this experience! Educationally I had a lot of challenges within my neighborhood school and decided to attend to a different school to get more support. I did not learn ASL til I went to Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and graduated with BSW in 1992. Learning ASL really opened up my world, and I was able to understand who I was as a person.
One of the delights of RIT was that I became the first deaf Campus Safety Security Officer in 1993! Wow, what an experience! After this opportunity, I pursued graduate studies in Social Work at University of Denver (DU) and graduated with MSW in 1995. I’ve worked in variety of settings : Social Services, Vocational Rehabilitation, Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind, Goodwill, Mental Health Corp of Denver; City and County of Denver Sign Language Services and Denver/Aurora Public Schools within different roles : Mental Health Counselor; Deaf Services Program Manager; Work Readiness Consultant; Community Advocate, Early Interventionist; and Training Consultant.
Two of my BIGGEST passions are: working with families and deaf/hard of hearing children and to ensure that we all have EQUAL access to everything in LIFE!