JEFF FIELDER Editor
SCOTTSBLUFF – Susan Whitaker, of Gering, is an Advocacy Specialist with the Nebraska Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. She’s been in that position since August 2020. Whitaker, who’s lived in the Scottsbluff/Gering area since 2003, has spent much of her career helping people who are deaf or hard of hearing, including working as an interpreter for Scottsbluff Public Schools for a number of years. Whitaker, who was born in Folsom, California, graduated from Lake Region Christian School in Brainerd, Minnesota, in 1981. She learned sign language at American River College in Sacramento, California, and then went into an interpreter training program. She started her career as a community interpreter and also ran an outreach office for the Center on Deafness in Sacramento. In 2010, Whitaker, 59, earned an associate’s degree from WNCC, and then she earned a business administration degree from Chadron State College in 2012. She earned her education degree in 2015. In addition to her job with NCDHH, Whitaker is in her fifth year of teaching sign language at Western Nebraska Community College in Scottsbluff.
Q: How have things been going since you became an Advocacy Specialist with the Nebraska Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing?
WHITAKER: “It’s been going great. I feel like we’ve met a lot of needs in our area. In the past year, I’ve managed to hit every city in the Panhandle that has a fairly decent-sized population, leaving brochures at places like post offices, libraries, and senior centers. With COVID, it was a little slow getting started, but once facilities started opening back up, I was able to get into places and do some presentations and help people get things like amplified phones, captioned phones, and hearing aids.”
Q: What is the area you focus on?
WHITAKER: “I serve the 11 counties in the Panhandle. My office in Scottsbluff is called an ‘outreach office.’ There are seven outreach offices in the state, including ones in Lincoln, Omaha, Kearney, and North Platte. There’s an Advocacy Specialist in each office. The Omaha office also has a behavioral health specialist position there. Also, we had an education specialist, but she is leaving, so I’m taking over her responsibilities in addition to being an Advocacy Specialist. The education part of what I’ll do will cover the whole state. The education position focuses on birth to high school. I’ll provide support for families with children who are deaf or hard of hearing.”
You can read the entire story in the February 2022 issue of Nspire Today! magazine. A one-year subscription (12 issues) is only $20. You may sign up for a subscription by sending $20 to Nspire Today!, P.O. Box 454, Scottsbluff, NE 69363, or you may pay with a credit card by calling 308-220-8865.
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