Joe's Story

I was born in Cleveland, Ohio to close knit family who happened to be of Italian and French heritage. My father, Nino, immigrated to United States from his hometown in Italy in 1967. While Nino visited his aunt who married my mother's (Cindy) uncle (No no, that doesn't make them cousins!!!). They both met and it was a classic "love at first sight story." Nino made an excellent decision of not going back to Italy and married Cindy and they produced three of us.

I am the oldest of three and have one brother, Carlo and sister, Daniela. Both Carlo and Daniela are hearing. Approximately 16 to 18 months after my birth, my parents suspected a problem in my own development since I was not being responsive to my name while being called and language being delayed compared to my hearing counterparts. Naturally, like every hearing parents, they were very concerned and took me to family doctor in which I was diagnosed being deaf in both ears. Like many hearing parents, they were devastated with the news. However, to my advantage, my Dad has "some" experience growing up with a hard of hearing member which happens to be his brother, Pasquale. There were times when my Mom became frustrated in trying to understand me and she waited until Dad to come home from work to figure out what I was trying to tell them. Dad, in most case, was able to figure out (Thanks to his Italian heritage that we, Italians, often talk with our hands!) what I was trying to say.

Another thing is they succeeded in raising me was through the support of other family members including my maternal grandparents whom I grew to be very fond of them. Mom gave up her employment to devote her life in raising me while Dad has to work in getting hard earned bacon home. My parents had to dig for more information on raising a deaf child and most of the information they got came from a local library. One expert told my parents that I should attend Ohio School of the Deaf which is located in Columbus. My parents, who have strong familial and moral values, refused to send me to Columbus. I was given my first hearing aids at age of 3. My grandparents, Uncles and Aunts often drive us to places to gather more information on deafness (Mom doesn't have driver's license at that time). Finally, I went to a mainstreamed program where oral education was strongly emphasized. My parents were told that it is a stigma to learn sign language (They wished they had an opportunity to turn back the clock to learn sign language...I told them they did what they could).

I remember at age of 4, my family went to Italy for the first time to meet my paternal grandparents and rest of my paternal family. Clearly, I had no idea of whom we would be staying with, my paternal grandmother was so excited and held onto me. Of course, I was so scared and believe it or not, trying to escape my grandmother's arms, I squeezed her breasts so hard! I managed to get back to my mother! Of course, it took time for me to realize that they are my other grandparents. Eventually, I became close to Uncle Pasquale, hard of hearing, there. I guess our bonds come naturally. To my excitement, my maternal grandparents also came to Italy to spend time with us, that sure did comfort my anxiety there.

Throughout my education, there were always uphills and downhills, I really struggled with my oral education. Thanks to my parents' strong persistence, it paid off. There were no better English teachers than my mother. She was the one who taught me to write English this well. Growing up, I was not often accepted by my peers (deaf and hearing) because of my oralism. Little I did know sign language, I was able to struggle my way through figuring out my own identity as a Deaf person. I reminded my mother sometimes that it was her persistence that paid off. Before my senior year at high school, my parents (after knowing that sign language isn't bad after all) encouraged me to learn sign language before I went to college. I refused because I knew I could speak fairly well and told them that "you can't teach old dog new tricks." Boy, I was 17 years old and am already an old dog? Definitely an identity crisis there!

I enrolled into National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) and bumped into this person, Dino, who became a close friend later on. Shortly after talking with Dino, he asked me this question "Do you want to survive through NTID?" I replied "of course I do." He replied "then learn sign language." I thought about what he said and there are at least 1,000 deaf and hard of hearing individuals with their hands flying in the air. I enrolled into sign language class, and guess what? This was the only sign language class I enrolled into. I learned sign language at my own pace quickly. I was thriving to learn much more! While learning sign language, I was finally able to identify myself as a Deaf person and there is a culture and world behind just being deaf.

I graduated from NTID in 1992 with an Associate Degree in Printing and became employed at NTID as a press operator in 1993. I was asked to teach printing class as an adjunct instructor for several years using ASL. (I decided to take Sign Communication Profiency Interview and was rated with native-like ASL user. I guess I did come a long way to be native-like!) I realized that printing wasn't for my future and went back to school part-time while transferred to another position as a Resident Director in NTID/RIT dormitories. From that point, I grew a lot as a Deaf professional and was able to finish my Bachelor's degree in 2001.

I met my future wife, Sara, while being at NTID in 1997. This started out as a blind date in which I found out who I was dating with! Sara and I hit off very well and we got serious in our relationship. She comes from a deaf family of three generations (Grandparents, Parents and children who are Deaf which consist three generations). We got married in July of 2000.

We moved to Chicago in 2001 where we want to settle in our personal and professional lives here. My wife, Sara, works as a Deaf Service Coordinator for DuPage Center of Independent Living.

Right now, we are proud parents of Gino, 15 months old and a 4th generation Deaf son. Before Gino arrived to this world, I asked my parents if our baby is deaf and will this be an issue. She replied "of course not! What better parents than both of us to have a deaf child and wanted this child to be healthy as well."

A day after his birth, Sara and I talked about Gino possibly being deaf and I accidently clapped. Gino was sleeping at that time and he didn't flinch. We attempted to clap again and the only thing we saw was the light flashing (baby cry signaler detected our clapping noise) and we went...oh, a 4th generation. Today, Gino is our pride and joy!

Gino at age of 4 months, he was already a world traveler and touched many means of transportations (plane, train, car, taxi, bus and ferry). Sara, Gino and I went to my father's hometown Reggio Di Calabria, Italy to introduce Sara and Gino to my paternal family. They all embraced Sara and Gino into the family. Wow, Gino was a show stealer throughout our stay in Italy.

At age of 15 months, he knows about at least 50 signs, knows 2-3 words sentences and is able to identify colors. We took Gino to a language specialist and she told us that he is NOT language delayed compared to his hearing counterparts and is ahead in some language areas. All of my hearing family members were very supportive of Gino's development.



	Joe's Story I was born in Cleveland, Ohio to close knit family who happened to be of Italian and French heritage. My father, Nino, immigrated to United States from his hometown in Italy in 1967. While Nino visited his aunt who married my mother's (Cindy) uncle (No no, that doesn't make them cousins!!!). They both met and it was a classic "love at first sight story." Nino made an excellent decision of not going back to Italy and married Cindy and they produced three of us. I am the oldest of three and have one brother, Carlo and sister, Daniela. Both Carlo and Daniela are hearing. Approximately 16 to 18 months after my birth, my parents suspected a problem in my own development since I was not being responsive to my name while being called and language being delayed compared to my hearing counterparts. Naturally, like every hearing parents, they were very concerned and took me to family doctor in which I was diagnosed being deaf in both ears. Like many hearing parents, they were devastated with the news. However, to my advantage, my Dad has "some" experience growing up with a hard of hearing member which happens to be his brother, Pasquale. There were times when my Mom became frustrated in trying to understand me and she waited until Dad to come home from work to figure out what I was trying to tell them. Dad, in most case, was able to figure out (Thanks to his Italian heritage that we, Italians, often talk with our hands!) what I was trying to say. Another thing is they succeeded in raising me was through the support of other family members including my maternal grandparents whom I grew to be very fond of them. Mom gave up her employment to devote her life in raising me while Dad has to work in getting hard earned bacon home. My parents had to dig for more information on raising a deaf child and most of the information they got came from a local library. One expert told my parents that I should attend Ohio School of the Deaf which is located in Columbus. My parents, who have strong familial and moral values, refused to send me to Columbus. I was given my first hearing aids at age of 3. My grandparents, Uncles and Aunts often drive us to places to gather more information on deafness (Mom doesn't have driver's license at that time). Finally, I went to a mainstreamed program where oral education was strongly emphasized. My parents were told that it is a stigma to learn sign language (They wished they had an opportunity to turn back the clock to learn sign language...I told them they did what they could). I remember at age of 4, my family went to Italy for the first time to meet my paternal grandparents and rest of my paternal family. Clearly, I had no idea of whom we would be staying with, my paternal grandmother was so excited and held onto me. Of course, I was so scared and believe it or not, trying to escape my grandmother's arms, I squeezed her breasts so hard! I managed to get back to my mother! Of course, it took time for me to realize that they are my other grandparents. Eventually, I became close to Uncle Pasquale, hard of hearing, there. I guess our bonds come naturally. To my excitement, my maternal grandparents also came to Italy to spend time with us, that sure did comfort my anxiety there. Throughout my education, there were always uphills and downhills, I really struggled with my oral education. Thanks to my parents' strong persistence, it paid off. There were no better English teachers than my mother. She was the one who taught me to write English this well. Growing up, I was not often accepted by my peers (deaf and hearing) because of my oralism. Little I did know sign language, I was able to struggle my way through figuring out my own identity as a Deaf person. I reminded my mother sometimes that it was her persistence that paid off. Before my senior year at high school, my parents (after knowing that sign language isn't bad after all) encouraged me to learn sign language before I went to college. I refused because I knew I could speak fairly well and told them that "you can't teach old dog new tricks." Boy, I was 17 years old and am already an old dog? Definitely an identity crisis there! I enrolled into National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) and bumped into this person, Dino, who became a close friend later on. Shortly after talking with Dino, he asked me this question "Do you want to survive through NTID?" I replied "of course I do." He replied "then learn sign language." I thought about what he said and there are at least 1,000 deaf and hard of hearing individuals with their hands flying in the air. I enrolled into sign language class, and guess what? This was the only sign language class I enrolled into. I learned sign language at my own pace quickly. I was thriving to learn much more! While learning sign language, I was finally able to identify myself as a Deaf person and there is a culture and world behind just being deaf. I graduated from NTID in 1992 with an Associate Degree in Printing and became employed at NTID as a press operator in 1993. I was asked to teach printing class as an adjunct instructor for several years using ASL. (I decided to take Sign Communication Profiency Interview and was rated with native-like ASL user. I guess I did come a long way to be native-like!) I realized that printing wasn't for my future and went back to school part-time while transferred to another position as a Resident Director in NTID/RIT dormitories. From that point, I grew a lot as a Deaf professional and was able to finish my Bachelor's degree in 2001. I met my future wife, Sara, while being at NTID in 1997. This started out as a blind date in which I found out who I was dating with! Sara and I hit off very well and we got serious in our relationship. She comes from a deaf family of three generations (Grandparents, Parents and children who are Deaf which consist three generations). We got married in July of 2000. We moved to Chicago in 2001 where we want to settle in our personal and professional lives here. My wife, Sara, works as a Deaf Service Coordinator for DuPage Center of Independent Living. Right now, we are proud parents of Gino, 15 months old and a 4th generation Deaf son. Before Gino arrived to this world, I asked my parents if our baby is deaf and will this be an issue. She replied "of course not! What better parents than both of us to have a deaf child and wanted this child to be healthy as well." A day after his birth, Sara and I talked about Gino possibly being deaf and I accidently clapped. Gino was sleeping at that time and he didn't flinch. We attempted to clap again and the only thing we saw was the light flashing (baby cry signaler detected our clapping noise) and we went...oh, a 4th generation. Today, Gino is our pride and joy! Gino at age of 4 months, he was already a world traveler and touched many means of transportations (plane, train, car, taxi, bus and ferry). Sara, Gino and I went to my father's hometown Reggio Di Calabria, Italy to introduce Sara and Gino to my paternal family. They all embraced Sara and Gino into the family. Wow, Gino was a show stealer throughout our stay in Italy. At age of 15 months, he knows about at least 50 signs, knows 2-3 words sentences and is able to identify colors. We took Gino to a language specialist and she told us that he is NOT language delayed compared to his hearing counterparts and is ahead in some language areas. All of my hearing family members were very supportive of Gino's development.