Feature: Leffler makes connections through language
With experience working in K-12 schools, interpreting agencies, and colleges, Brian Leffler fosters awareness of Deaf culture and identity as a lecturer of American Sign Language at the University of Georgia.
Growing up in a family with both deaf and hearing members, Leffler, who is deaf, learned to communicate by translating between people who speak and people who sign.
“I grew up in an area where there wasn’t many deaf [people], and so how can I figure out how to do that translation?” Leffler said. “Well, because I was always around a lot of hearing people, yet I utilize ASL, and I was able to see that and have that variation and variety in my life.”