Fwd: [DGV] Deaf former FBI surveillance expert Sue battles new enemy MS

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In a message dated 11/19/2003 7:14:25 AM Eastern Standard Time, dgeditor@... writes:

Article:The Minneapolis Star TribuneDeaf former FBI surveillance expert Sue battles new enemy: MSDelma J. Francis, Star Tribune One day when she was 18 months old, Sue was watching TV with herthree older brothers at home in Boardman, Ohio. Suddenly she got up andbegan fiddling with the knobs on the TV set, trying to turn up thevolume.The volume was at peak. She just couldn't hear it.Just like that, she had become profoundly deaf. Doctors could provide noexplanation., now 53, believes the cause was an early symptom of multiplesclerosis, with which she was diagnosed two years ago. But despite alifetime of silence and the disease to battle, life is good."It just keeps getting better and better," said the woman whose unusualwork for the FBI inspired a hit TV series. spoke Saturday at the MS ActiveSource conference at the MarriottAirport Hotel in Bloomington.The Pax network TV show "Sue : F.B.Eye," based on her work in FBIsurveillance, is viewed weekly by 2.5 million people in 30 countries.(And yes, just as there is on the show, there was a golden retrievernamed Levi in her life: her first hearing-ear dog.)Several motion-picture studios came calling after her book "Silent Night"(Tyndale House Publishers) was published in 1990. When funding for amovie project fell through, the screenwriters who had been working on herstory shopped it to Pax-TV for an hourlong weekly series.Learning to speak The FBI phase of ' life would never have happened if her parentshad not encouraged her to learn to speak and to read lips, she said. Sheused those skills to communicate and in fact did not learn American signlanguage until she was about 30. spent more than seven years learning to speak with a therapist atthe Youngstown (Ohio) Hearing and Speech Center.Today her voice has a pleasant cadence and timbre.Despite her ability to speak and to read lips, had an unhappyschool life. Teased unmercifully by five bullies who made it their job"to make my life miserable," and labeled a slow learner by teachers whodidn't always face her when speaking so she could read their lips, plodded along making D's and F's.But two people made a difference: a roller-skating coach and a highschool typing teacher.Roller skating "saved my life big-time," said , who at 7 became theyoungest-ever champion freestyle roller skater in Ohio. How was thatpossible when she couldn't hear the music? "The coach skated hand in handwith me to the music over and over," she said. "It took a long time tolearn the routines, but I did it."I might have talked funny and I might be a dummy, but no other kid had atrophy as big as mine, and no other kid could do the jumps I could do,"she said, smiling. "That coach gave me the self-worth I needed to holdonto."In high school, a typing teacher noticed ' typing skill. "Shethought, 'Hey, no dummy can type 128 words a minute,' " said. Theteacher quizzed her about what she wanted to do after high school, andwhen she answered, "Go to college," encouraged her. In 1976, graduated from Springfield (Mass.) College with a degree in politicalscience and international relations."But no one wanted to hire me because I couldn't use the telephone," shesaid. She turned to the speech center that had been such a part of herearly life."They felt sorry for me and hired me, even though they didn't really havea job."A friend of a friend of a friend got her a job classifying fingerprintswith the FBI in Washington, D.C.The FBI years Then came a breakthrough. The FBI thought it had the goods on somesuspects but couldn't prove it. The audio portion of a surveillancevideotape had failed, and they didn't have a clue what the suspects weresaying. did. She read their lips and "never went back to classifyingfingerprints." For the next 3 1/2 years, "I followed the bad guys aroundand read their lips. They even paid me for it, and I stayed around longenough to get a TV show out of it," she joked. left the job to pursue graduate study at Columbia (S.C.)International Bible University.She had hated her deafness for 32 years, but with the help of her faith,she said, she embraced it as a part of herself.As a result of MS, has numbness on her right side, balanceproblems and decreasing vision. She wonders how she'll communicate "whenthe lights go out and I can no longer read lips," but she doesn't fret."God is my strength," she said.Despite the onset of multiple sclerosis, "my quality of life is betterthan ever," said. "Waking up in the morning, never knowing whatthat day will bring [physically], has taught me amazing grace."

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Article:

The Minneapolis Star Tribune

Deaf former FBI surveillance expert Sue battles new enemy: MS

Delma J. Francis, Star Tribune 

    

One day when she was 18 months old, Sue was watching TV with her

three older brothers at home in Boardman, Ohio. Suddenly she got up and

began fiddling with the knobs on the TV set, trying to turn up the

volume.

The volume was at peak. She just couldn't hear it.

Just like that, she had become profoundly deaf. Doctors could provide no

explanation.

, now 53, believes the cause was an early symptom of multiple

sclerosis, with which she was diagnosed two years ago. But despite a

lifetime of silence and the disease to battle, life is good.

" It just keeps getting better and better, " said the woman whose unusual

work for the FBI inspired a hit TV series.

spoke Saturday at the MS ActiveSource conference at the Marriott

Airport Hotel in Bloomington.

The Pax network TV show " Sue : F.B.Eye, " based on her work in FBI

surveillance, is viewed weekly by 2.5 million people in 30 countries.

(And yes, just as there is on the show, there was a golden retriever

named Levi in her life: her first hearing-ear dog.)

Several motion-picture studios came calling after her book " Silent Night "

(Tyndale House Publishers) was published in 1990. When funding for a

movie project fell through, the screenwriters who had been working on her

story shopped it to Pax-TV for an hourlong weekly series.

Learning to speak

The FBI phase of ' life would never have happened if her parents

had not encouraged her to learn to speak and to read lips, she said. She

used those skills to communicate and in fact did not learn American sign

language until she was about 30.

spent more than seven years learning to speak with a therapist at

the Youngstown (Ohio) Hearing and Speech Center.

Today her voice has a pleasant cadence and timbre.

Despite her ability to speak and to read lips, had an unhappy

school life. Teased unmercifully by five bullies who made it their job

" to make my life miserable, " and labeled a slow learner by teachers who

didn't always face her when speaking so she could read their lips,

plodded along making D's and F's.

But two people made a difference: a roller-skating coach and a high

school typing teacher.

Roller skating " saved my life big-time, " said , who at 7 became the

youngest-ever champion freestyle roller skater in Ohio. How was that

possible when she couldn't hear the music? " The coach skated hand in hand

with me to the music over and over, " she said. " It took a long time to

learn the routines, but I did it.

" I might have talked funny and I might be a dummy, but no other kid had a

trophy as big as mine, and no other kid could do the jumps I could do, "

she said, smiling. " That coach gave me the self-worth I needed to hold

onto. "

In high school, a typing teacher noticed ' typing skill. " She

thought, 'Hey, no dummy can type 128 words a minute,' " said. The

teacher quizzed her about what she wanted to do after high school, and

when she answered, " Go to college, " encouraged her. In 1976,

graduated from Springfield (Mass.) College with a degree in political

science and international relations.

" But no one wanted to hire me because I couldn't use the telephone, " she

said. She turned to the speech center that had been such a part of her

early life.

" They felt sorry for me and hired me, even though they didn't really have

a job. "

A friend of a friend of a friend got her a job classifying fingerprints

with the FBI in Washington, D.C.

The FBI years

Then came a breakthrough. The FBI thought it had the goods on some

suspects but couldn't prove it. The audio portion of a surveillance

videotape had failed, and they didn't have a clue what the suspects were

saying.

did. She read their lips and " never went back to classifying

fingerprints. " For the next 3 1/2 years, " I followed the bad guys around

and read their lips. They even paid me for it, and I stayed around long

enough to get a TV show out of it, " she joked.

left the job to pursue graduate study at Columbia (S.C.)

International Bible University.

She had hated her deafness for 32 years, but with the help of her faith,

she said, she embraced it as a part of herself.

As a result of MS, has numbness on her right side, balance

problems and decreasing vision. She wonders how she'll communicate " when

the lights go out and I can no longer read lips, " but she doesn't fret.

" God is my strength, " she said.

Despite the onset of multiple sclerosis, " my quality of life is better

than ever, " said. " Waking up in the morning, never knowing what

that day will bring [physically], has taught me amazing grace. "

Delma J. Francis is at dfrancis@...

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[Guest guest]

GREAT STORY...THANKS FOR POSTING CABBIE.

> In a message dated 11/19/2003 7:14:25 AM Eastern Standard Time,

> dgeditor@g... writes:

> Article:

> The Minneapolis Star Tribune

>

> Deaf former FBI surveillance expert Sue battles new enemy:

MS

> Delma J. Francis, Star Tribune