Steamboat Springs resident Kyle Rosenberg loves to strike up conversations with folks over a beer as much as the next person, and he will work to have that chat by any means necessary — even by using big gestures or pen and paper.

What is frustrating for Rosenberg is when people start up a conversation with him not knowing he is deaf, and when they find out, they may just shrug and turn or walk away. Dropping a conversation is insulting to anyone who is deaf, Rosenberg explained last week during a lunchtime Community Chat at Bud Werner Memorial Library.

“Unfortunately, it can be more on me to accommodate everybody else,” said Rosenberg, who was diagnosed as deaf at about two years old, and learned sign language in high school. “For me, it’s a survival tool. I’ve been doing it my whole life. Everybody else is afraid, or not sure how and wondering ‘am I doing the right thing?'”

---

---

As the camps manager for STARS, or nonprofit Steamboat Adaptative Recreational Sports, Rosenberg participated in talks at the library as part of this year’s One Book Steamboat that is dedicated to growth, understanding and inclusion of all disabilities.

His top recommendation for community member is to make an effort to connect with people in the disabled community.

---

---

“Find a way. If the first way doesn’t work, shift, and shift again until you find a way that works,” Rosenberg said.

Craig resident Staci Nichols, who was born deaf, agrees.

“Just talk to me like you would talk to anyone else,” Nichols said. “Sure, some deaf people can talk better than I can, some can’t. There are always ways to adapt to get our messages across.”

Rosenberg said the deaf community has received more attention in the past 10-15 years than in the past 100 years in areas ranging from movie topics to cell phone technology improvements. Rosenberg remembers a time when television had no closed captions — or only for specific shows two days a week — that required a television decoder box. Deaf individuals needed to ask friends what was happening during news or live events.

Rosenberg said the deaf community had to become proud and assertive just to be included and involved equally in the world.

“We deaf are always trying to keep afloat, and it can be exhausting when we are always fighting to keep our basic right such as interpreters, communication, without being pushed into something that we do not want to be in,” Nichols said.

Rosenberg pointed out that accessibility improvements for the disabled community — as simple as push bars on water fountains — have become more popular after society realized those changes can benefit many types of people, including the elderly.

“People didn’t want to invest until they realized how beneficial it was for everybody,” said Rosenberg, who earned a bachelor’s degree in communication studies and a master’s degree in experiential education.

Access to services and resources for the deaf and disabled communities are more difficult in smaller communities, and every deaf person can tell similar stories about struggles in school, law enforcement, medical and legal situations, Rosenberg said.

American Sign Language interpreter Jillian Chamberlain, who has worked full time at STARS since last summer, voiced Rosenberg’s speedy signs during the library talk. Before Chamberlain started with STARS, in-person ASL interpreters would have to travel to Steamboat for hours from other towns such as Grand Junction.

Nichols agrees that larger cities have more accessible resources, yet she prefers to live in the laid-back setting of a rural community.

“But one thing remains, no matter where I go, discrimination and ignorance runs high toward the deaf and hard of hearing populations,” said Nichols, who graduated from Colorado Mesa University and serves as the independent living coordinator for nonprofit Northwest Colorado Center for Independence. “It was hard for me to get a decent-paying job because people cannot look past my deafness and my deaf accent and assume that I am incapable of doing things. I face and deal with that all over the place, regardless of culture and population.”

Although Rosenberg encourages as many people as possible to learn at least some sign language, he said important situations such as medical and legal cases should utilize a qualified, certified interpreter.

When residents see deaf or disabled individuals around town, do not hesitate to strike up a conversation. Nichols just asks for a little bit of patience.

“I cannot respond or talk as fast as you can because sometimes interpreters need lag time or a phone to keep up with the conversations,” Nichols noted.

“I can speak and lip read all right, it’s okay, but it sounds better after I’ve had a few beers,” Rosenberg said with a smile.