Meet Karli

Hi! I am Karli. I was born Deaf and my parents had no idea until I was 2 years old. I am an educational assistant at my local deaf school. I play roller derby and my roller derby name is Deaf Metal haha. I am engaged to a wonderful (hearing) man with 11 years old and 4 years old daughters. Our youngest daughter was born Deaf, just like me. She is in junior kindergarten at my deaf school. 

How Did My Parents NOT Know I was Deaf?!

I was born Deaf and my parents did not realize it because I would follow my brother everywhere. It wasn’t until my older brother (who is only 2 years older than me) started kindergarten and was away during the day when my parents started to notice that I wasn’t responding to them. Once they realized I was Deaf, they immediately started learning ASL for me. I was fitted with my first pair of hearing aids shortly afterwards. I also had an in-home speech therapist. I attended deaf preschool and then deaf school from kindergarten to grade 7. In grade 8, I decided I wanted to venture out to the “hearing world” and was transferred to a hearing middle school. Went to 2 different mainstream high schools before I decided that I wanted to graduate with my friends at my Deaf school. I’m ever so grateful for my time at my Deaf school. It really shaped me into who I am today. I was the only Deaf person in my entire family until my daughter came along.

The Moment I Realized My Daughter Was Deaf

It was 12 hours after I gave birth when the doctor at the hospital where I was at did the newborn hearing screening test. My mom was there to interpret for me. She was the one who told me what the doctor said. “I’m sorry she failed her hearing test”. I grinned and gave a thumbs up. Two months later, my daughter had another hearing test, and she ‘failed' it. In reality, she passed the Deaf Test. I was over the moon. The audiologist was baffled and asked me why I was excited. I told her that she is just like me. The Deaf world is absolutely beautiful and I am so excited that she is going to be joining me. She looked at me all amazed and said I wish there were deaf people that would attend appointments like this to show parents that there is hope. My Deaf daughter is a complete powerhouse at only 4 years old. She is going to move mountains. I am so excited. She really changed my outlook on life as a Deaf person.

The Moment I Realized My Daughter Was Deaf

It was 12 hours after I gave birth when the doctor at the hospital where I was at did the newborn hearing screening test. My mom was there to interpret for me. She was the one who told me what the doctor said. “I’m sorry she failed her hearing test”. I grinned and gave a thumbs up. Two months later, my daughter had another hearing test, and she ‘failed' it. In reality, she passed the Deaf Test. I was over the moon. The audiologist was baffled and asked me why I was excited.

I told her that she is just like me. The Deaf world is absolutely beautiful and I am so excited that she is going to be joining me. She looked at me all amazed and said I wish there were deaf people that would attend appointments like this to show parents that there is hope. My Deaf daughter is a complete powerhouse at only 4 years old. She is going to move mountains. I am so excited. She really changed my outlook on life as a Deaf person.

How My Deaf Daughter Changed My Perspective

Having my Deaf daughter completely lit a fire under me. Because of her, I am 100x more proud of my Deaf identity and I want to advocate for her. Before having her, I wasn’t really at all interested in being in the Deaf community. I’d rather do my own things. But now, oh boy, I want to make the world a better place for her. Pave a path for her to follow and continue to make her own path in life. I am already seeing the changes that are going on in the Deaf community and I am beyond excited for my daughter to experience it all. I was born during the 90’s. Only three channels would have closed captions by the time I could read. I could only communicate with my friends via TTY. Now my Deaf daughter can video call her other Deaf friends and sign. I had to wait until I learned how to type to call my friends. At 4 years old, I already see big differences she has made in other people’s lives. I am so excited to see what the future holds for both of us.

Why Am I Online?

I’ve noticed that there aren’t many Deaf Canadians online, and way too many videos showcasing Deaf children doing speech therapy, and wearing hearing devices. I want to show the importance of Deaf children learning ASL first to prevent language deprivation. My 4 years old is a QUEEN of Classifiers already. It was because I exposed her to ASL since Day One. Most children in her Junior Kindergarten class arrived at school with minimum language exposure. If more parents know about the beauty of the Deaf world, more Deaf children would not experience language deprivation.  There are many awesome Deaf content creators out there but they are mainly from the United States. There aren’t many Deaf Canadian content creators. I want to show the beauty of regional signs when it comes to ASL. So that’s why I’m online.

Thank you for reading! If you would like to follow and support my content you can find me on Instagram at @karli_thatprairiedeafgirl , That would be amazing. 🩷 🤟🏻