Katherine Gable loved to draw as a kid. Her grandfather and her aunt were artists and she wanted to become an artist. But Katherine's father had other plans for her--he wanted her to follow his footsteps and go into engineering.
"The art gene skipped a generation," Katherine chuckles. Katherine was in her high school's Environmental Technology academic program, but then realized that her heart wasn't into the science field. So she graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology with a degree in graphic design and she works full-time as a multi-media assistant at the Nourison Rug Corporation. Katherine is a freelance designer for TS Writing Service. Her portfolio is at:
http://www.skytalon.com/.
"My parents didn't discover that I was deaf until I was two," she shares. "I was running wildly down the street to a playground. My dad called out my name and I didn't respond."
The family quickly took up American Sign Language lessons and enrolled Katherine at the Pennsylvania School for the deaf, an hour bus ride away. While attending PSD, Katherine had several classes at a local school with an interpreter. For high school, she choose to attend mainstream classes near home with other deaf students rather than going away to the Model Secondary School for the Deaf in Washington D.C. Her father was instrumental in getting the school district to change their hiring policies for interpreters.
"The Philadelphia school district kept hiring interpreters with poor sign skills," she explained. "My dad and several other parents banded together and sued the school district to hire certified interpreters."
"I regret the decision to go to the public high school because the deaf kids were picking on me there," Katherine continued. "I had no problems with the hearing people. But going away to college (Rochester has a large deaf and hard of hearing population) was a good awakening for my self-esteem."
Katherine took up agency work in Rochester shortly after college, but the agency folded. She moved back home to Philadelphia and continued her job hunt. Several interviews later, she landed a job with Nourison Rug Corporation in New Jersey, where she works today. She credits her first boss for being open-minded during the interview and willing to see her talent. "He even learned a few signs," she says.
Katherine's Dad passed away last year and she misses him dearly. "He was totally involved with my education when I was growing up, making sure I had access and being involved with the PTA. I want people to know how thankful I am for him in my life because he was an awesome deaf advocate."
Photo description on top left: Half of a woman's face with just one eye showing.
