Question: Are you Deaf?
Answer: Yes. I am Deaf.
I was born hard-of-hearing and became Deaf over time. I learned ASL at
a young age from a Deaf person.
I
married a Deaf woman, I work in the field of Deaf-Studies, hang out with
people who can sign, use close-captioning (or subtitles) when I watch
videos, seek out open captioned movies, watch the news in ASL, lived at
Gallaudet (Benson Hall) during an internship in Washington D.C., have a
daughter who attended the Utah School for the Deaf preschool program, use
the relay for phone calls (or text), and devote my time to developing
ASL-related resources for others.
Question: Are you a member of the "Deaf Community?"
Answer: Yes. I've lived my life serving in Deaf organizations, setting up
Deaf events, working with other Deaf, teaching ASL, teaching Deaf Studies,
etc.) I met my wife ("Bee" -- who is Deaf too) at a
Deaf church. Our youngest child, Sarah (our fourth) was born with a substantial hearing loss
due to having Aperts (a rare syndrome) attended the Utah State School for the Deaf pre-school
program. Almost all of my close friends and associates are either Deaf or
strongly tied to the
Deaf Community.
Question: Are you certified?
Answer: I hold a doctorate in Deaf Education / Deaf Studies from an
accredited university (Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas). I also hold a
masters in Deaf Education from Lamar university. As far as I know, I was the
first person from Utah to become ASLTA certified. I was a member of ASLTA back when they were still S.I.G.N.
(Sign Instructors Guidance Network).
Question: Where did you learn ASL?
Answer: I started learning ASL (I'll never be "done") from a Deaf woman, (Kathy Hadfield
of Brigham City, Utah. She later married Mark Erwin -- so she is now
Kathy Erwin.) As I grew older
I lived with
Deaf roommates, hung out with other Deaf people, studied every ASL source I
could find and took as many formal classes as I could --
eventually leading to a doctorate degree in Deaf Education / Deaf Studies. Here are a few of
the experiences that influenced me:
* Worked as a volunteer at the the
Indiana School for the Deaf (as a teacher's assistant in Laura Gaalema's third grade
class)
* Worked as a volunteer for GLAD Orange County Outreach in California
* Worked as a volunteer the (former)
Indiana Branch Office of the National Association of the Deaf
* Lived on-campus at Gallaudet University during a summer internship program
* Took night classes at the Oregon School for the Deaf (Salem).
* Participated in a hundreds of hours of "American Judicial System"
- related ASL training at California State University
Northridge
* Attended many (!) workshops
* Researched ASL Linguistics, ASL acquisition, and Computer Assisted
Language Learning during my doctoral studies Lamar University
* Directed/participated in 15 years of "immersion excursions" to exciting
places with Deaf co-hosts
* Directing an interpreter-training program for Davis County school district
during which I interviewed, hired, and worked closely with many (over 30) Deaf
guest-speakers and/or trainers
*
And lately I spend much of my time discussing the nuances of ASL with my
d/Deaf colleagues at work and online.
Question: What kind of experience do you have teaching ASL?
Answer: I taught ASL at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah for over a decade.
I have taught ASL classes and/or workshops at the Utah Community Center
for the Deaf, the IRS, Hill Air Force Base, Defense Depot Ogden Utah, Mills Montessori
School, the Newgate Mall, Your Community Connection of Ogden,
Clearfield Community Schools, Davis County School District, Weber County
School District, Ogden City Corporation, The Sign Language Studio, Lifeprint
Institute, Lamar University in Beaumont Texas, The Sign Language
Association, ASL University, California State University--Sacramento, and
dozens of other places. As of this writing I am a full-time, tenured,
full professor of American Sign Language and Deaf Studies. Teaching
ASL is my life's work.
Update: Since I wrote the above, I've added "Guyana,
South America" to the list. Guyana was by far the hardest work -- and the most fun.]
Update: Add Singapore to the list. I've done two separate
10-day
sign language-related workshops for the National Association for the Deaf
(in Singapore). [The important point there is they liked me and
invited me back.]
Notes:
Audiogram: William G. Vicars
Date: 4/24/1985
