Hard of Hearing and Deaf - Sarah

My name is Sarah, I’m 20 years old. I’m from Connecticut and I was born Deaf. I’m a third year at Northeastern University. I’m studying Human Services and I’m getting a minor in Sociology. I know I want to work with children and I want to help kids who have disabilities to grow up and do anything they want to do.

When I was a kid I did ballet soccer, basketball, cheerleading girl scouts, everything! [laughs] It was kind of nice to… be able to prove to my school that just because I can’t hear doesn’t mean I can’t participate. One of the biggest challenges that I’ve had is living on my own. Something might happen, so I’ve definitely had to teach myself to become more careful and more aware since I live on my own.

One of the things I’ve had to become more aware of is fire safety. Cooking fire is one of the leading causes of home fires in the nation. When I’m cooking I have to be careful of what I wear so if I’m wearing a scarf or have my hair down it could catch on fire, So I have to make sure I’m wearing the right clothes.

Another thing that I learned about cooking is never leave my cooking alone never walk away or go into another room always stay with whatever I’m making. If there’s a grease fire, if you put water on it, it’s going to expand and explode, so never put water on a grease fire. Put a lid on a fire.

Another thing about fire safety are the things that keep me safe such as smoke alarms and fire equipment. Because I can’t hear
I live in a dorm that has a special fire alarm. So, if the fire alarm ends up going off there’s a flashing light that will get my attention and then I can get up and get out of the dorm. You should always have a sprinkler where you live.

Automatic fire sprinklers will put out fires and give you time to get out of the building.

If the fire alarm goes off I should always know two ways to get out of the building in case there’s a fire. You want to make sure you have a second way out in case the first way, the way you came in, is blocked. No matter where you are, if you’re at your dorm, classroom, movie theatre, restaurant, anywhere you are you should know two ways to get out. You should practice getting out your second exit because you want to make sure it’s not blocked by bicycles or trash cans or anything else.

It’s very important that I prepare for a fire emergency regardless of where I am: school, my dorm, classroom, movie theatre, anywhere. You can always talk to a fire safety official or someone from the fire department to learn more about fire safety.

Remember, fire safety is part of living.