After 27 years as the director of Arizona’s Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Sherri Collins retired late last year. But as that chapter ended, she recently started a new one, as the executive director of a group called Deaf Seniors of America.
Collins brings a unique perspective to her work supporting the deaf community. She’s lobbied at the state legislature, worked as a mentor and board member for a wide range of organizations serving people with disabilities. But, as she puts it, when she goes home at night, she’s also a deaf person trying to navigate the world.
Collins was born deaf, and though she now has some hearing thanks to a cochlear implant, she made her way through much of her life thanks to lip-reading and American sign language. Her combination of experiences gives her strong feelings about how to make the world a more welcoming place.
Collins joined The Show to discuss why she says, Arizona has a long way to go.
Full conversation
SHERRI COLLINS: As a person who is in the early stage of their retirement, our population for older adults is pretty large in Arizona, obviously, because it’s a great place to retire. But services for the deaf senior citizen is significantly poor. We have a lot of work to do. Like for example, go to a nursing home. Where can we go that is acceptable for us? There’s not one.
SAM DINGMAN: In the entire state?
COLLINS: Not one.
DINGMAN: That specializes in services for deaf people.
SHERRI COLLINS: Correct. Not one.
DINGMAN: Wow.
COLLINS: So can you imagine if I need to go into a home? All these people that live there, I will be isolated. My health, quality of life will go down very quickly.
DINGMAN: Right. That sense of feeling isolated and alone is very hard when you’re young. I can imagine it being extra difficult when you’re older.
COLLINS: Right. And so now here I am in my golden chapter of my life. I worry about my future. Do I want to stay in Arizona? I don’t know. Those are the things that I think about because I don’t have children of my own. If I don’t have kids. I’m going to have to rely on the system and resources for me. And that’s scary.
DINGMAN: Right. Another thing I have to imagine has changed tremendously over the course of your life doing this work is the culture around deafness — both between deaf people and hearing people and amongst deaf people themselves. What have been some of the big changes there?
COLLINS: That’s like another show right here.
DINGMAN: Do we need to extend this interview by an hour?
COLLINS: There has been a shift. The deaf culture still like this, but it seems like to us it’s getting smaller. The reason for that is because more and more kids, because of the advanced technology, are going mainstream. Going to a public school, not going to the school for the deaf.
DINGMAN: And are they able to do that because they’re able to get things like cochlear implants or hearing aids?
COLLINS: Well, that’s where — and I’m going to be very honest — that’s where we in the deaf community feel like the professionals, like audiologists or the pediatric doctors, they want the medical fix. We don’t.
We’re like, wait a minute. It’s not the quick fix. Let’s look at the child. Why not expose that child with everything? Don’t make a decision on fixing the ear. Let’s learn, OK? This child can benefit from a hearing aid? Fine. Then introduce language development. Make sure they’re reading lips. Not responding? Maybe you want to add some sign language.
Why can’t you have all of that? And that’s where a lot of times the parents feel like they have to make a decision. “Well, I want my child to be oral and not learn sign language. And I’m going to get that ear fixed.” Because it’s convenient for them.
DINGMAN: It’s convenient for them, meaning the parents.
COLLINS: It’s convenient for the parents because they can communicate. And that’s where we try to tell the family, you don’t have to make a decision right now. Give your child everything.
DINGMAN: So you’re saying that as technology has expanded that allows parents to address whatever specific issue may be preventing the child from hearing, from your perspective the child may, in gaining whatever they get from that technology, they may be losing something else.
COLLINS: Right. We’re not telling the parents, “Don’t give your child an implant.” But that’s not the only solution. Because what happens when that child grows up and they discover later, “Oh, there’s a deaf community. There’s sign language. I really like that.” They take their implant off, and they stop wearing them.
DINGMAN: Wow.
COLLINS: We have seen that. It’s just like, “On. This is my community. I like the ASL because I’m not isolated. I have friends that can socialize.” So they feel they’ve sent a place of belonging.
DINGMAN: Yes, yes.
COLLINS: And so myself an example. I got my one implant — and I have it worn in my right ear — when I moved to Arizona. But I was an adult. I made that decision on my own.
DINGMAN: And in your case, you made that decision having had a lifetime of learning sign language, learning to read lips, learning this whole range of resources that you were then adding the implant to. Whereas if your parents had had that option available when you were very young and had made that decision for you, you might not have reached adulthood with that range of resources.
COLLINS: That is correct. And it’s interesting you mention that because I asked my parents. When I was younger, they did test me for that. At that time, I did not meet the criteria. Because the technology of the implant wasn’t ready for the type of hearing loss that I had. And I’m glad.
DINGMAN: Yeah. I have to imagine, Sherri, that these types of conversations you’re having with parents in particular must be very difficult. Because I can imagine a parent really wanting to give their kid what they see as this gift of saying, “You don’t have to have this experience,” not thinking of the context that you were just talking about.
How do you approach that delicate conversation?
COLLINS: Listen to them. And just ask them how are they doing. And if they’re like, “I don’t know what to say,” then I always say, “Let me tell you my story.” And I always come up-front and say, “I am not here to change your mind. I want to make sure you are informed of all the resources available for you.”
I say oftentimes the professionals are only giving you very limited information that they believe is the quick fix.
DINGMAN: It’s very striking to me that the first thing you said was that you would say to the parent, “How are you doing?” Because I’m imagining they’re entering into this conversation because they’re thinking, in most cases, about their kid and how their kid is doing.
And by giving them space to talk about what it’s like for them. You’ve completely changed the dynamics of that interaction, right? I could imagine it also introducing the possibility that they might realize, “I’m thinking about what I need. I’m not thinking about what my kid might ultimately need.”
COLLINS: Right. So I think it’s important to give them everything. Maybe their time, if not that moment.
DINGMAN: Well, Sherri Collins is the former director of the Arizona Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and the incoming executive director of Deaf Seniors of America. Sherri, thank you for this conversation.
COLLINS: Thank you.
