Hello, I'm Patrick J. Peters. I was born in Humboldt, Iowa, lived there for about two years, then moved to New Mexico for about a year. In New Mexico, my parents found out I was Deaf when I was about two years old. So I had to learn how to talk first before I learned American Sign Language because my family didn't want me to use it at home.  I had to take many speech therapies for many years and I missed much information in the family and the community which is always hard for me to deal with. Lucky enough that I was allowed to learn American Sign Language at the school at the age of five years old.

         Around 1973 or early 1974, my family moved to a few places in Colorado. About 1976, I grew up in a town called Brighton. Brighton was founded in the 1870s as a stage/railroad business and farming community. I always ride my bike around this town and play with my dog, Fanny all the time because there is no deaf community in my hometown.

         I attended mainstream schools and graduated in 1989 from Thornton High School during my growing up years. I moved to Washington, DC in 1989. Before becoming a freshman at Gallaudet University, I attended Northwest Campus Preparatory, Gallaudet University, for two years. At Gallaudet University, I graduated with a BA in Communication Arts. After that, I worked at Gallaudet University for nearly 12 years as Office Assistant at the Tutorial Center.

         As soon as I left Gallaudet University, I started an ASL tutoring online business and an OUL organization. I loved it because I enjoyed serving the community. Also, I was an actor in a movie called "Seeds of Hope: The Andrew Jackson Foster Story" in February 2018. I had a great time with it.

         During my time at Northwest Campus Preparatory (NWC), Gallaudet University, I learned so much about learning disabilities. I discovered I do have a learning disability while I was at NWC. It has always been difficult for me to learn math problems and memorize spelling. There is no discussion about learning disabilities or proving a program for learning disabilities these days. As a Freshman student at Gallaudet, I began attending workshops and participating in events relating to learning disabilities. And now, I want to make even more changes for the Deaf and Hearing Hard community with learning disabilities, because there is no research on learning disabilities in the Deaf and Hearing Hard community, or don't have enough programs for them to get the help for their needs to do well in careers or education. Hopefully, this OUL home page will provide better sources of information for getting more research projects and tools that we need for our community.  

         My passion is traveling, seeing museums, taking pictures, creating ceramics, collecting old store antiques, and doing photography projects! I also enjoy reading books and hanging out with friends. I love eating cheesecake!  Every day I walk around Washington, DC, going to many different parts of the city because of many other places to visit. It is impossible to see all of Washington, DC, in one day.

         I hope you will enjoy the OUL Homepage. You are welcome to provide your feedback or share the suggestion at oulorg22@gmail.com at any time. I am looking forward to working with you in the future.