In honor of National Deaf Awareness Week, Hamilton Relay is proud to recognize Karen Rose "KR" Glickman as the 2009 Deaf/Hard of Hearing Community Leader for the State of Massachusetts.
Karen Rose "KR" Glickman is an impressive woman who is a great advocate for individuals with hearing loss. She is known by many as a saint, an educator, a storyteller, a presenter, and an endless ray of life who bridges the gap between the hearing world and the deaf world.
KR has the remarkable ability to expand upon cultural situations in order to educate people within the hearing world. She has taught American Sign Language classes since 1980 and founded her own sign language school, KSI, in 1993. Through her school, she has inspired many students to excel in becoming professional interpreters. Through her program, KR educates students on Deaf Culture, Signing verses Finger Spelling and introduces her hearing dog, Shana.
The skill that KR possesses with sign language in conjunction with her desire and ability to teach has proven to be of great benefit to others. KR works closely with the New England Home for the Deaf to assist in better communications between the staff and residents. Her passion to educate is what drives her – intimidation and impatience is never shown. She takes as much time as needed to educate those who wish to learn from her.
In addition, other accomplishments include receiving The Spirit of Diversity Award from the City of Beverly where she currently lives, serving on the Alumni Board for the Clarke School for the Deaf, and creating programs such as; Deaf Awareness & YOU, Unseen Borders: Stories in Sign and Voice, and Growing up Deaf & Jewish.
KR's parents, Lillian Glickman of North Adams and Charles Glickman of Marshfield, are both hearing. She has one brother, Ken, who is Deaf and another brother Tom, who is hearing. She was born in North Adams, MA and is a graduate of Clarke School for the Deaf in Northampton. She received her BA in 1987 from Gallaudet University.
KR loves to garden, walk her hearing dog and learn all of the things her Laptop can do. She and her husband of 20 years, Tony Toledo, enjoy hosting their famous annual Corn Party that begins precicely at 2:44 PM since KR was born at 2:44 AM, and her mother was in Room 244 at the North Adams Hospital. You can even email KR at KRGlickman@aol.com for 244 more stories!
In summary, KR is a unique woman who has overcome many adversities throughout her life. Through her advocacy and leadership, as well as through her influence in teaching others, she has effected positive change for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing communities in Massachusetts.
This leadership recognition has been brought to you by Hamilton Relay.
About Hamilton Relay
Hamilton Relay offers a variety of services including Telecommunications Relay Service, Captioned Telephone and Internet Relay services. Hamilton provides Telecommunications Relay and/or Captioned Telephone services to 16 states, the District of Columbia, the Island of Saipan and the Virgin Islands. More information is available at hamiltonrelay.com.