Hello all.

My name is Patience Taylor.  My husband and I have been married for 17 years going on 18.  We have two wonderful sons who are both now in high school, one is a Senior and the other a Freshman.  As I have mentioned in class my youngest suffered from mild to moderate hearing loss on and off from the age of 6 months to 4 years and had 4 separate sets of tubes inserted during this time due to chronic ear infections that antibiotics were struggling to clear. This resulted in a severe speech delay for him.  His SLP from the age of 2 helped us teach him signs to help communicate his needs until he was able to verbally express them.  This made a huge difference in our lives, but my connection to ASL and Deaf individuals goes even farther back.  During high school and even before I have had Deaf friends, but I have unfortunately lost contact with them over the years. One friend in particular was a friend even before Kindergarten.  My mom used to be his parents insurance sales person and each month when she would collect their payments I got to go with her.  Joe was deaf since birth and did not speak much if any.  That never stopped us from being friends.  We seemed to be able to communicate without the use of words and it left a lasting impression on me.  Especially when he showed me his new white turkeys on one particular visit.  To a 5 year old a full grown turkey can be intimidating to down right frightening.  As he led me to their pen he seemed to pick up on the fact I was very scared and he patiently waited for me to enter at my own pace.  His patience was amazing.  One day I hope to reconnect with him and my other friend from school.  My decision to become a teacher was a later in life realization.  I had never truly considered that I would be capable until I entered into college after getting laid off from a job I had had for 6 and half years.  I changed my major and when I told my youngest son I was going to school to be a special education teacher he hugged me tight and started immediately asking for me to teach his class.  I knew at that point I had made the right choice.  As for the picture I chose, this statement is one near and dear to my heart.  A person without imperfections is a person without personality.  It is all the rough edges and sharp corners that make us who we are.