Part of my contribution to the Appeal-Democrat newspaper is interviewing deaf/hard of hearing members of the Yuba-Sutter community. Susan Stacy is my second interview. First one was Kimberly Dethlefsen. I want to add some things to the original article published online here by the Appeal-Democrat because Susan Stacy is a woman of extensive experience it all couldn’t be fit into that article.

Susan Stacy has an interesting connection with me. Her husband and she bought the house that I lived in for the first 5 years of my life. She later met me when I was a little girl in the Lincrest Elementary School’s Special Education Program for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Since then, her family has maintained friendship with my family. She is also one of the core members of Deaf Club that meets every first Thursday of the month in Yuba City. She has a long history of working with deaf/hard of hearing children. Her husband is also deaf and a survivor of lung cancer. She remarked that nearly losing her husband was another life-changing experience after her experiences in Fiji. Her husband, Steven, has recently passed his one-year anniversary of being cancer-free. Their eldest daughter, Carita, is involved with the Deaf community and other community activities. She also is a front desk secretary/receptionist for NorCal Center on Deafness and occasionally is called on to interpret. Their younger daughter, Rose, is an interpreter for a deaf employee at CaISO in Folsom. Son Rex is currently employed by Wal-Mart in Citrus Heights.

During the interview, I learned that Susan had originally been brought up by the Oracy Method at Starr King Elementary School and latter learned ASL at 17 years old later at Del Campo High School. A deaf kid had transferred from Oregon, and didn’t like the Oracy Method so he taught Susan and the others ASL. She was also mainstreamed in all classes without an interpreter. She is a strong advocate of ASL as a primary language for deaf children and equal access for the deaf/hard of hearing. Her giving heart is not only for the deaf/hard of hearing but also those who have additional disabilities such as autism and ADHD.

Her trip to Fiji as a part of missionary work was a life experience for her. She got to see first hand what it is like for deaf people living outside America. Susan met deaf Fiji natives that bore hideous scars from being whipped or tortured for simply being deaf. She expressed a desire to go back and work with the Fiji deaf.

My conclusion: Susan Stacy is a woman of rich, diverse experiences.

* A note: Deafness and disability are viewed very differently in other countries; some are outright persecuted or simply declined full basic human rights. It is a scary fact that the United States of America and the United Kingdom are two of the few countries that recognize and grant equal access to the deaf and hard of hearing. Third world countries have it much worse; there is nothing governing the rights of the deaf/hard of hearing. This is why the World Federation of the Deaf exists.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.