Student Spotlight: Hear Kelly’s Story

“Mom?” No answer. “Mom?” No answer. “MOOOMMM!” echoes through the house, still no answer. “What?!” she finally answers. “Mom, where is my field hockey bag?”

Most of us take for granted the ability to communicate through speaking and hearing. Even communication with our parents which usually involves hearing but little listening depends on the ability to hear. Now imagine growing up in a household where both of your parents are deaf. This is the reality for junior, Kelly Sikorski. While many of us would find such circumstances unimaginable, Kelly has lived in such a household for her entire life and finds the situation to actually be a privilege that others do not get to experience.

Kelly is a junior at North Penn, plays field hockey and soccer and has two younger sisters Megan and Anne.

Kelly’s parents were both born deaf and have overcome this difficulty to live normal lives. “My mom and dad are very good at reading lips and as long as they can see you speak they can understand you and we can have normal conversations. We also do a lot of texting and my mom will call me on the phone and just have a one way conversation to tell me things and then hang up.” When they are at home they get each other’s attention by flicking the lights on and off.
“Of course, we do a lot of sign language too,” states Kelly. Kelly learned sign language as a baby and it became her first language. Sign language is a powerful way to communicate and has advantages according to Kelly like communication from long distances, such as from across the soccer field. Kelly believes that sign language should be offered as a course at North Penn just like French or Spanish. Kelly is still unsure of what to do in the future, but she knows she would like to do something with sign language, such as being a speech therapist, communicating through speech and sign.

Kelly has also put together two signing videos on YouTube. These videos have almost 8,000 hits and have generated many followers on YouTube.
Get to know Kelly and check out Kelly’s videos on how to sign That’s What Makes You Beautiful and Call Me Maybe below!
(*note – links will not work if reading this in school!)

TWMYB – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmMMCkSXCz0
Call Me Maybe – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEfPZRdNqqI&feature=plcp
What songs do you want to see next? Comment below!

Follow us on twitter to stay up to date on all the Student Spotlights @NPKnightCrier