Karla Giese - Deafness/Hard of Hearing - Illinois State University

For Karla, deaf education has been a way of life.  Born hearing, Karla began losing her hearing as an infant and became profoundly deaf by the time she was nine years old. Her parents chose to raise her with an emphasis on spoken language, using speech therapy, hearing aids, and FM systems while being educated in the mainstream setting. By middle school, Karla began learning sign language and used an interpreter through high school and college.  After many years of teaching in a variety of total communication programs, Karla learned about Cued Speech and its benefits.  She is now a certified instructor of Cued Speech and conducts regular workshops.  Her passion is parent advocacy and literacy.

Karla earned a BA in Deaf Education, Elementary Education, and Special Education from Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  She later obtained her Masters in Early Childhood Special Education from Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago. She also got her Early Intervention credential as a Developmental Therapist-Hearing (DTH) and as a Deaf Mentor and spent some time working in the early intervention system in Illinois. 
 
Karla has worked with deaf and hard of hearing children of all ages, from birth to age 21, across all educational settings, utilizing all modes of communication.  It’s been a great learning experience, both personally and professionally!  Throughout her career, Karla has been an active participant in a variety of organizations and has attended numerous trainings, conferences, and workshops on a variety of topics related to deafness. In addition, Karla has given several presentations on various topics including Cued Speech, language acquisition, hearing loss, parent advocacy, and service dogs for the deaf.

Currently, Karla is enrolled at Illinois State University’s Special Education PhD Program. In her free time she enjoys reading and spending time with her family.
As a student of deaf education programs, as a teacher in deaf education programs, and as an administrator of deaf education programs, Karla has come full circle. She is very excited as she continues her journey in the field of deaf awareness and education!