Board of directors

Erin was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. She met her husband in Thailand while she was taking a break from volunteer teaching at a Deaf school in Mumbai, India. She later moved to Virginia to be with her husband ,and they now have three boys and a dog.

Erin grew up in a world where everyone spoke, and it wasn’t until attending high school when she saw Deaf people using their hands to communicate. Even then, she felt embarrassed and did not understand much about Deaf Culture or their world. She felt it was really important that she continued to “pass” as a hearing person and hoped that no one noticed. When Erin got to Rochester Institute of Technology, she was mesmerized by the large population of Deaf people using ASL. She will never forget the first moment when she was in class watching a Deaf professor teach a very simple concept in ASL. This became her first “ah ha!” moment. It was also the first time she felt that she could truly connect to someone.

After Erin received her Masters in Deaf Education at Rochester Institute of Technology, she went to teach at the New York School for the Deaf. During her time there, she taught different grade levels and eventually found her love and passion for early childhood education. Erin loved creating a child-centered environment where children were the masters of their own learning. When it was time for Erin to move back home to Toronto, Canada, she wanted to start working with early intervention,  since the first few years of a baby’s life are critical for developing language. As such, she joined the Infant Hearing Program as an American Sign Language Consultant with Silent Voice, which provided her with insight into the parents’ experiences and journey in discovering that their child was Deaf/Hard of Hearing, as well as assisting parents will understanding the importance of having access to ASL language supports and services within their communities.