Rodenna Frank was born in the Philippines and it
took a while for her family to realize she was
deaf.
Rodenna: My parents never knew I was deaf until I
was 3 years old.
But she would call my name many times, but I would
never answer her and that was when she took me to
the doctor, my mother.
And the doctor said that I was deaf.
When Rodenna was 9, she began attending elementary
school and learned Sign Language.
But when she was 10, Rodenna began having
trouble with her vision.
Rodenna: When I started having vision problems I
couldn't read my mom's signing.
So she put my hands on hers and she started to
communicate with me that way.
Rodenna has Usher Syndrome, a condition
where a person experiences partial or total hearing
loss and vision loss that worsens over time.
She became completely deaf and blind.
♪♪
Today, Rodenna, or Ro as most call her, lives
in Marion, Iowa with her husband Dave.
Together they raised two children.
Rodenna: We have one boy and one daughter.
Rodenna: My husband signs with me, yes, and my
daughter as well.
My son is so-so.
He communicates some.
Well, he can read my signs but he prefers to use a
lot of spelling when he signs to me and
communicates with me.
So it's more finger spelling than signs.
Ro is very independent.
When her children were young she homeschooled
them with help from her husband.
Rodenna: Yes, I homeschooled my own
children for six years, six years from eighth
grade to eleventh and twelfth grade.
We did videotape classes and then I would check
their work and my husband together we would check
their work.
Ro also works part-time at Pizza Ranch in Marion
working in the dish room.
Rodenna: I know my way from outside through into
the dish room and I know my way around.
Sometimes if the things aren't in their regular
place I need to ask somebody to help me find
that item.
Ro hopes that by her working as a deafblind
individual, others will understand how capable she
and people like her can be.
Rodenna: I want them to see that deafblind people
like me, they can do their jobs well.
Ro works with the help of an interpreter who takes
her to and from work and stays with her to help her
communicate with her co-workers at Pizza Ranch.
Transportation is the biggest challenge for Ro.
Rodenna: I want to be able to start using
transportation to get to my work and be independent
that way.
And I would like for people in the dish room to
be able to work with me and communicate on a very
basic level without an interpreter there.
Ro enjoys getting out and working at Pizza Ranch,
but her home is her happy place where she has many
hobbies.
(adaptive device reading Ro's text messages)
Rodenna: I can do things and I am able to use the
computer with Braille.
I use the iPhone with other people also.
I enjoy knitting, cooking and reading library books
from the library at Iowa Department of the Blind.
(adaptive device speaking)
Technology has helped Ro
communicate with her family and friends.
Dave: So yes, she is able to communicate and text to
pretty much anybody she wants to and she is a
great help.
You can communicate with your family in Florida and
message them, do both emails or text messages.
Yeah.
We do FaceTime with family down in Florida, with my
husband's help, I can't do it alone because I can't
see the screen on the phone.
Dave: So it works well, it does.
But it's great for her.
It gives Ro an opening into the world that she
would not otherwise have.
From the outside, living deafblind looks difficult.
But Ro insists her life is, as she calls it,
normal.
Rodenna: There's just not a whole lot to share about
myself.
I do things other people do.
It's an average normal life.