User talk:Janedoe1001

Personal background
In the Deaf community, Patrick Graybill is known for his acting, direct plays, poetry, storytelling, teaching, consulting in American Sign Language, and translating from American Sign Language to English. When Graybill narrates his life story, he tends to begin with the vital fact that he was born into a family of nine (Parasnis). This is absolutely essential because he was raised with three Deaf sisters and a younger Deaf brother. He is the third child and has two older Deaf sisters who use sign language to converse. He was fortunate to have parents who were supportive of having ASL in the house. Thus, with his parents’ approval, Graybill was able to pick up the skill of ASL rather quickly. Luckily, he was exposed to American Sign Language at such a young age which is unusual for a Deaf child whose parents are hearing. In addition, his sisters attended the Kansas School for the Deaf and Graybill, too, followed along in his sisters’ footsteps (Poetry in Motion). He started attending the school at the age of five and graduated from this school. This was how he was richly experienced with and immensely internalized himself with the deaf community, culture and ASL. Yet, for Graybill, the learning did not end there. During his time at the Kansas School for the Deaf, he was inspired to become a story teller because of his Deaf teacher “whose storytelling ability made him think seriously about becoming a storyteller [Graybill]” (Rochester Art Drop). Not only was his teacher an inspiration, but his sister was also one of his inspirations for becoming an actor. His sister played a character in the school production of Tom Sawyer which planted the idea of acting into his mind.

Occupation Background
After high school, he decided to enroll at Gallaudet College in 1958 and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1963 and a Master’s in Education in 1964 (Rochester Art Drop). Afterward, he taught at the KDES and got involved with a local Deaf community theatrical production. Not only did he get involved in theater, but he was also determined to study at Catholic University of America’s theological seminary although were there no support services provided for his education. While studying in seminary, he also participated in the National Theatre of the Deaf in 1969. From there, he learned how to become a performer, director, and teacher. This led him to teach at the National Technical Institute of Deaf (NTID)’s Performing Arts Department and Gallaudet University. After he graduated from seminary school, he served as a deacon at Rochester’s Emmanuel Church of the Deaf (DeafPeople). He continued to be a deacon for another 25 years, a college professor for 23 years, and a professional actor, a guest actor, director, and consultant for more than 31 years. He is known for his talents as an American Sign Language role model on educational videos for students and has narrated portions of the New Testament in ASL for preservation on the video as well (Byrne).