Summary: Deaf and Employment

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Over the last month and a half, I published a 6 part series focusing on my experience with employment. Many had asked me to share these experiences, such as what it is like to go on interviews or what it is like to work in a hearing dominated environment. I was asked to share this a few years ago. Why did it take so long for me to share? I had a lot of hesitancy to publish any of those posts. I felt like each post was so negative. I’m not typically the kind of person to be excessive and pessimistic.

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Part 6: My Journey as a Deaf Paraprofessional

Yesterday marked the end of Deaf History month, so to wrap up the series about challenges I faced with employment, I will talk about the recent and last job I had. Over the last 4 years, I worked as a special education paraprofessional at an elementary school. I interviewed for a position at the high school level and had accepted the offer, until the Special Education director convinced me to interview for the elementary school position. He thought that the student was in need of someone like me more than the high school student. I went to the interview at the elementary school and requested an interpreter.

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Part 5: The continued search

The search for a job after American School for the Deaf took a long time again. I faced many rejections as I mentioned in Part 2. This time, I contacted the vocational rehabilitation counselor to help me with the search. She assigned me a headhunter, which is an individual who helps me find opportunities. I spent a lot of time with the head hunter applying to jobs, fixing up my resume and following up with the businesses. I saw a huge difference in the search process with a headhunter.

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Part 4: TSA

Upon my resignation from American School for the Deaf, I was still reeling from the loss of the new plans I had made to be a teacher. I decided to go back to searching for a job in the criminal justice field as I originally planned. This is when I signed up for a 4 year long commitment with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). It should be listed on my resume because you totally can see the dedication right there. All joking aside, it was my biggest fight in trying to get the job.

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Part 3: American School for the Deaf

The summer of 2012, I applied to a residential counselor position at American School for the Deaf (ASD) in West Hartford, CT. ASD is an institute for deaf students from K-12. Some students commuted daily to the school on the school buses. Some students stayed at ASD in the residential dorms since they lived in NYC, New Jersey, all over Connecticut, or Massachusetts. The job I applied for was to supervise these kids who stayed in the residence halls. It was definitely the easiest interview I had.

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The employment challenges of the Deaf

National Deaf History month kicked off on Friday the 13th. It marked the anniversary of ‘Deaf President Now’ movement at Gallaudet University. Located in Washington D.C., Gallaudet University is a liberal arts college for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing. The movement succeeded in persuading Gallaudet University to have a deaf president. I. King Jordan became the first Deaf president in 1988. This reflects the determination of those who fought for what was best for our deaf community.

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