Email this pageMeet the AADB Board of Directors
Last Updated:
Thursday, September 25, 2008
-
Arthur "Art" Roehrig
President
Washington, DC
I was born and grew up on a dairy farm near Green Bay, Wisconsin, and am a diehard fan of the Green Bay Packers. I graduated from Gallaudet University with a B.A. degree in 1968 and a M.A. degree in 1974, and have completed all the course requirements for a Ph.D.
I have been employed at Gallaudet for over thirty years. For the past twelve years, I have been working as an academic support service counselor in the Office for Students with Disabilities. My work experiences include advocacy, counseling, teaching, administration, program development, and material development.
I am excited to be working with you as AADB president!
Back to the list of board members.
Presently, Mr. Clark, who is diagnosed as having Usher Syndrome, is employed as a Deaf-Blind Service Specialist with the Division of Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Charlotte. His previous work experiences include Adjunct Professors – Deaf-Blind Interpreter programs at Garner-Webb University and College of St. Catherine, Assistant Educational Specialist (ASL teacher), at the University of Minnesota, and Staff Accountant at the General Electric Capital Fleet. He has been an SSP trainer and presenter at the national, state and local levels.
Mr. Clark received his bachelor's degree in business administration with concentration of accounting from Gallaudet University and his master's degree in deaf education from McDaniel College. He holds many certifications: Deaf-Blind Trainee from the Northern Illinois University and National Interpreter Education Project, Usher Screening, VISTA and many other training programs.
Mr. Clark’s hobbies are Classic Ford Mustang, hiking, biking, canoeing, cross country skiing, and woodworking. He is anxious to serve you and DeafBlind communities as Vice President. His favorite quotation is:” If you wait for something to happen, it won’t happen, if you make it happen, it will happen”.
Back to the list of board members.
Marilyn C. Fernandez-Trader is a social worker for deaf, hard of hearing and deaf-blind people with Wake County Human Services Mental Health Deaf Program in Raleigh, N.C. She is also serving her second term as secretary for the American Association of the Deaf-Blind.
Mrs. Trader obtained her bachelor’s degree in Psychology/Sociology with an emphasis in Political Science from Illinois State University. Then, she attended Gallaudet University for her Masters in Social Work. While attending Gallaudet, Mrs. Trader was President of the Graduate Student Association. This position allowed her to travel all over the United States to present and advocate at universities regarding deaf and deaf-blind cultural awareness. In addition, Mrs. Trader was the Chair for the Diversity Committee with the National Association of Graduate Professional students. She implemented resolutions on campuses all over the USA on Cultural Diversity to incorporate deaf and deaf-blind culture within their programs. Mrs. Trader has been a strong advocate for the deaf-blind community for over 15 years.
Mrs. Trader is hearing. However, she grew up as a child in the deaf community; she has a deaf godmother; and she attended public schools with deaf and deaf-blind students. She is also married to a CODA who has a deaf-blind mother and a deaf father. The Traders have no children but do have two loving dogs, who are boxers.
Back to the list of board members.
Jeffrey Bohrman, Ph.D. was born with Usher Syndrome, Type I and received his doctorate in pharmacology. After many years as a research toxicologist, Jeff changed his career 12 years ago to run a statewide program to provide services and resources to deaf-blind people in Ohio (Ohio Deaf-Blind Outreach Program). Jeff has been on the AADB board since 1989, and has served as President and Vice President. He is currently serving his second term as Treasurer. Jeff also serves as the North America regional representative for the World Federation of the Deafblind. In 2005, Jeff was inducted into the National Hall of Fame for Persons with Disabilities.
Back to the list of board members.
My name is Karyn Campbell. I graduated from college in May 1984 with a BA degree in Political Science. I have been happily married for 11 years. While we have no kids, we do have 6 nieces and nephews. I work as a receptionist at a small state agency, a job I have held for 17 years. I enjoy football and baseball.
I am blind, having only light perception with large objects up close, and have a mild to moderate hearing loss for which I wear hearing aids. Speech is my primary means of communication and I use an FM system or Assistive Listening device where necessary. I have found that I do better in meetings and large programs when using this type of equipment.
I am involved in the community, including the Illinois Council of the Blind (ICB) and its parent organization, the American Council of the Blind (ACB), as well as my local Lions Club. I have been involved in the deaf-blind community and its issues since 2000. At that time, I joined the ACB Sight AND Sound Impaired (SASI) Committee, and became its program Chairperson in 2004. I also serve as ICB’s representative to the SSP Task Force here in Illinois, where I have served since 2002.
Back to the list of board members.
Mark Gasaway has been a member of AADB since 1996 and was a board member from 1998 - 2004. He ran for the board again in 2007 after resigning at the end of 2004.
He has a BA in Social Work from Gallaudet University and MA in Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix. He enjoys running, walking, biking, and other outdoor activities. He has been very active in promoting awareness for the deaf-blind, serving on many boards, committees, and meetings.
Back to the list of board members.
Back to the list of board members.
My name is Patti Lago-Avery and I am from Pittsford, New York which is located on the Erie Canal just southeast of Rochester, New York. I grew up in Bay City, Michigan attending public schools all my life. I have Usher Syndrome type IIa. I received my Bachelor's degree from Central Michigan University in Communication Disorders in 1974 and my Masters degree From the University of Arizona in Counseling and Rehabilitation for the Deaf in 1977. In August of 1977, I began my career at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) which is one of the colleges of the Rochester Institute of Technology.
During my twenty-three years t NTID, I served as a personal and career counselor for a variety of students who are deaf and hard of hearing. I also taught several courses at the undergraduate and graduate level. During the last fifteen years of my career at NTID I worked with students who had additional disabilities of vision impairment, mobility impairments and learning disabilities. Many of the students who had vision impairments had Usher Syndrome I and II. In June of 2000 I retired from NTID/RIT after 24 years of service. Since retiring from NTID I have continued to be involved professional trying to improve the lives of deaf-blind people. I have made several presentations nationally and internationally as well as written several articles and chapters for books related to education and counseling for individuals who are deaf-blind. I also provide consultation related to deaf education, counseling, cochlear implants and deaf-blindness as well as doing volunteer work.
On a personal note I am married to a wonderful guy, Joseph Avery, have four step-sons, two granddaughters, two beloved Lhasa Apsos, Cookie and Truffles. My husband and I like to spend our time traveling by truck, motorcycle or plane to various places to see the world and visit family all over the countryside of USA. We also love to be outdoors riding our bikes, hiking or kayaking or riding the country roads on Joe's beloved BMW K1200LT motorcycle. Our newest adventures will be learning how to use our new trailer for camping so our dogs can travel with us more often! In addition to all of this I am trying to learn a new hobby of photography which is quite a challenge for someone with limited vision.
My motto in life is something I read and learned at the age of 25 one year after I discovered I had Usher Syndrome: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference" I concluded that there was not much I could do about my vision and hearing losses through out my life but I would savor each day and live to the fullest.
Back to the list of board members.
Born in the Philippines and raised in Ontario, Canada, Maricar has Usher syndrome, type I. She received a BA degree in Communication Arts in 1994, and an MS degree in Administration in 1997 from Gallaudet University. Maricar has been employed at the Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults (HKNC) in Sands Point, NY, for over ten years and is now a Senior Independent Living Instructor. In this capacity, she evaluates the independent living skills of deaf-blind students at the Center and provides them with individualized rehabilitation training.
Maricar has presented on a state and national level on an array of deaf-blind issues including SSP services, deaf-blind cultural issues, recreational opportunities, interpreting techniques and self-determination. She has been a mentor and trainer to deaf-blind teens, families and professionals.
Skydiving, rock climbing, parasailing and competing in triathlons and the NYC Marathon are just some of the activities that Maricar has enjoyed over the years. Other interests include reading, trying various ethnic dishes, and attending Broadway plays in New York City. Maricar is married to Don Horvath, who also works at HKNC.
Back to the list of board members.
Back to the list of board members.
Dorothy Walt is from Seattle, Washington. She is a regional representative for the Helen Keller National Center, northwest region. She earned her M.A. in Rehabilitation Counseling from Gallaudet University and has worked in the field of deaf-blindness for over 15 years. Married to Ronald and has one daughter, Dorothy and her family lived in Alaska for 20+ years. After starting and managing a statewide deaf-blind program in Anchorage, Alaska, Dorothy accepted a position as a HKNC regional representative and became involved with advocating for deaf-blind people nationally and world wide. She enjoys networking, traveling, reading, cooking, being with family and working with and for AADB.
Back to the list of board members.
Hello, my name is Emily Maria Vera. I am very happy to be a new board member for AADB!
I was born hard-of-hearing and legally blind in Healdsburg, California. I have worked at the California School for the Blind in Fremont (CSBF) for the past four years in various positions as a teacher aide, office assistant, counselor assistant, and library assistant.
In May 2005, I graduated from College of the Redwoods, Northern California, with a Business Administrative Assistant certificate.
I am also proud to be a board member of the Northern California Association of the Deaf-Blind. I have been a fundraiser coordinator for NCDBA for a year. I also continue to enjoy working as NCDBA’s website designer, which I have done for the past three years.
I am looking forward to working with AADB and the deaf-blind communities, and pledge to bring you some new and exciting ideas and goals for the future. AADB is a great place to be!
