OFM Disability Pride Spotlight: Brent Anderson

July is Disability Pride Month and to celebrate we're highlighting some of the diverse people with disabilities and their allies that work at OFM. Their resilience, creativity, and unique perspectives enrich our workplace and strengthen our commitment to inclusivity. Join us in honoring their achievements and recognizing the importance of fostering a culture where everyone can thrive. We're kicking off this series by highlighting OFM's Network Engineer, Brent Anderson!

About Brent:

I grew up in a deaf family.? I attended Florida School for the Deaf and then graduated from Gallaudet University (the only Deaf university in the world) in Washington, DC.? I moved to Seattle in 1992, working for a non-profit organization called Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc. as an Independent Living Coordinator for Deaf-Blind.? I got my master’s in education in Counseling at Seattle University in 1998.? I eventually transitioned to Information Technology and after 24 years working for Lighthouse for the Blind, I started working for the state of Washington in 2018 at Criminal Justice Training Commission as a System Administrator.? In 2021, I became the Network Engineer for the Office of Financial Management.?

The D/deaf community is diverse and there are multiple ways to identify within the D/deaf community. How do you identify? ? ?

I wanted to clarify the significance in use of “d” vs “D” in the word, “deaf." To describe someone with hearing loss, we use “deaf” adjective. That person may have varying degrees of hearing loss, ranging from hard of hearing to completely deaf. When we use the word, “Deaf” it takes on a cultural meaning. Instead of identifying a person based on the degree of hearing loss, it means that the person is a part of the Deaf culture. Deaf culture can only be acquired by being born in a deaf family, attending deaf school or being immersed in Sign Language continuum.??

Since I was born to a deaf family and grew up at a deaf school, using American Sign Language and being constantly exposed to the Deaf culture, I always considered myself “Deaf."???

What does celebrating disability pride look like to you?

Raising awareness about disabilities by educating people that being disabled does not mean that we can’t do anything.?As the first deaf president of Gallaudet University famously said: “Deaf people can do anything but hear."?Celebrating disability pride shows the world that we may face challenges that non-disabled people may not experience but we are united and strong.?

What’s something you want hearing colleagues to know about communicating with D/deaf folks? ?

It is OK if you don’t know American Sign Language!?Technology progress has been amazing and truly opened many doors that were not available to us compared to the past.? Use of cell phones for example, I have an app called “Live Transcribe” where hearing people can talk to my phone and my phone would automatically translate voice to text.?I use Teams a lot with my co-workers and Teams also have Live Captions (which is pretty accurate most of the time!).?My hearing co-workers speak normally, and I can follow along using Live Captions and type my responses in chat.?Even if you attempted to learn some basic signs such as “Good Morning”, “How are you?”, etc.?That would really make deaf people feel great! ??? ?

What does finding community in the workplace look and feel like??

To me, finding community in the workplace would be that I feel included in the day-to-day conversation that inevitably take place at any job. Before technology, I would be quite isolated and not knowing what people around me were talking about.?In my current job, my team chats all the time on the Teams just about anything (work-related, personal lives, etc.) and that’s my main avenue to the community.?

Do you have any advice or encouragement to colleagues who might be struggling to find community or get support in their work environment??

I would encourage colleagues who may be struggling to find community or get support to be honest with their co-workers about how they feel.?If possible, try to educate your co-workers about your needs.?If one thing I’ve learned over time, people are quite enthusiastic in accommodating what you need and getting you involved in the community if you make little effort in being assertive and reminding them that you need some adjustment.?