I was born in Moncks Corner, SC, about 30 miles northwest of Charleston on June 5, 1959. I was born deaf, grew up deaf and I will always be deaf. My deafness was probably caused by Rh factor. Well, I'm happy that I have sights, hands, and breathing.
My father passed away when I was 2-1/2 years old. He loved going fishing alone. He was a good swimmer as I was told. Somehow, he fell off the boat and drowned. No one knew exactly how it happened but he just drowned. His body was found by the shore of Lake Moultrie, South Carolina, on the next day. I have no memory of him at all. My mother and my sister raised me.
My family moved to Atlanta, Georgia in 1965 where I grew most of my life. I was trained to speak while I went to the Atlanta Speech School. Currently, I can speak just about enough for many people to understand me in very simple conversation. I'm not great at lip reading as you may ask but I think I'm as good at reading lips as you are. Can you read lips? I usually communicate with people in writing, signing, or using body language.
After I graduated from Clarkston High School, Clarkston, GA, I lived in Rochester, NY while attending National Technical Institue of Technology for 3 years (I didn't graduate from there) and in Silver Spring, MD for 9 years while working in Washington, DC. I moved back to Atlanta in 1990.
I worked for the Department of the Navy (I mean *FOR* not *IN* the Navy) in Washington, DC for 8-1/2 years. I repaired cryptographic equipment. The Navy closed my department because of John A. Walker, an infamous spy for the former Soviet Union. He, successfully, sold a lot of information about our equipment to the Soviet Union for 18 years before he was caught in May 1985. Then, the equipment were no good and they were destroyed and disposed.
I ended up going back to college at Southern Polytechnic State University to get a B.S. degree in Computer Engineering. I graduated on March 20, 1997. Although, I got a degree, I had trouble finding a position as an engineer after I got laid off from two different electronic companies as an electronic technician. Because of my deafness, many companies resisted on hiring a deaf engineer, I decided to "hang up" on Electronics world and moved on with a different field.
I got myself a job at a Deaf Service. Currently, I am the Outreach Specialist of Georgia Telecommunications Equipment Distribution Program at Georgia Council for the Hearing Impaired, Inc.
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This page last updated 9-17-04
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