Our Team

My journey encompasses being a DeafBlind mentor, raising two Deaf children and following the Protactile movement. I interact with many DeafBlind folks from all backgrounds and in different environments/platforms, such as at retreats, through direct training and on listservs. Fostering access to information through touch allows us to lead meaningful lives.

Esther (Esty) Brenowitz is a white DeafBlind Ph.D. student in the Critical Studies in the Education of Deaf Learners at Gallaudet University.

Marjorie Bates is a PhD candidate in Linguistics at Gallaudet University. As a hearing, second-language learner of ASL and Protactile, Marjorie is interested in the cognitive processes (e.g., attention, metaphorical mapping) that contribute to understanding across modalities, including visual (sign, gesture, written), tactile, and spoken/auditory.

Hayley Broadway: Expert in DeafBlind Protactile Language Acquisition. Passionate about enhancing communication and experience within the Deafblind community.

She worked on bimodal bilingual projects.

An aspiring data analyst with an MA degree in deaf cultural studies at Gallaudet University and a BA degree in Biomedical Science at RIT.

Deanna Gagne is a professor at Gallaudet University, with expertise in child development, specializing in how children acquire and create language.

Kaj Kraus is a PhD candidate in the Department of Linguistics at Gallaudet University. His research investigates how deaf and hard of hearing adults learn ASL as a second language, and explores different linguistic and cognitive factors that may affect proficiency. In his free time, he enjoys mountain biking, skiing, and running.