that Madan Vasishta was featured in a Vimeo video made by a student named Bruce Brewer at New Mexico School for the Deaf?
Click the link to view the video at: https://vimeo.com/537837396 Link
Below is the transcript of the video for the deaf/blind classmates (Big thanks went to Barbara Hong Richardson for typing this transcript.)
Narrated by Bruce Brewer, Jr., Class of 2022 at New Mexico School for the Deaf. “Dr. Madan M. Vasishta (1994-2000)
Dr. Madan Vasishta was our seventh superintendent. He was born and lived with his family in a rural village near the Himalayan Mountains. He attended school in his village and became deaf when he was 11 years old.
He became very ill one day when he was 11 years old and he had a fever of 105 degrees! When he woke up the next morning, he couldn’t hear anything at all. Dr. Vasishta had typhoid fever, which had caused him to become profoundly deaf overnight.
There were no other Deaf people in his family and his family did not know what to do. He did not know what to do or how to communicate. Writing was his only means of communication but nonetheless, he was kicked out of school for being Deaf. He was discriminated against badly because he was Deaf.
However, he was determined to continue learning and he began to read profusely. He worked on his family’s farm for 10 years. He had many chores on the farm such as milking cow(s) and plowing in the fields.
He moved to the United States in 1967 where he began as a freshman at Gallaudet University. At Gallaudet, he learned American Sign Language. Within six months of studying ASL, he could communicate fluently with other Deaf people without the use of an interpreter. Dr. Vasishta continued his education at Gallaudet, completing his Bachelors, Masters and Ph. D. He has a wife, two children and one grandson.
While he was at University, he worked in a variety of positions, including being a teacher at the Kendall Demonstration Elementary School on Gallaudet’s campus for six years.
After completing his Ph.D., he quickly moved to Texas where he became a principal at the Texas School for the Deaf.
Later he would become the interim assistant superintendent at the School for the Deaf in Illinois. Then as the superintendent of the School of the Deaf in North Carolina.
When the superintendent position opened at New Mexico School for the Deaf (NMSD), he applied immediately. He became NMS’s superintendent in 1994 and continued until 2000. Dr. Vasishta worked very closely with Dr. Stephen Nover and the Federal Star School Program to encourage NMSD students to become fluent in both ASL and
English. During Dr. Vasishta’s time at NMSD, there were many hearing staff members and a very few Deaf Staff members. Dr. Vasishta worked hard to entice more Deaf people to work for NMSD.
He also worked diligently to increase NMSD’s statewide services in order to endure the Deaf students who attended public schools far from NMSD would have teachers that knew how to support their education and Deaf students.
He also worked to establish the CASA (Court Appointment Special Advocate Rule 10- 164) Conference, a biennial conference that is hosted for educators and teachers who work with Deaf students as well as parents of Deaf children.
Dr. Vasishta’s favorite past-time was socializing with the students in the Cafeteria in the mornings. In the evenings, he was often found going to the dormitories to interact with NMSD students. He made interacting with students a priority and the students loved him for it.
During his time as superintendent, Dr. Vasishta also worked to build the NMSD Albuquerque pre-school. He purchased the land in Albuquerque in order to serve Dead and hard of hearing students ranging from 2-6 years old.
Dr. Vasishta challenged everybody to make sure that everyone at NMSD signed at all times. He wanted both students and staff to have full access to all communication happening on the campus.
Before Dr. Vasishta became superintendent, many staff members would speak without signing which meant that it was not always accessible.
After retiring from NMSD, Dr. Vashishta became a professor at Gallaudet University. However, he often missed NMSD as he had so enjoyed interacting with NMSD students and New Mexicans. He missed the wonderful weather, the beautiful blue sky, the mountains, and the diversity found in the Mexican and North American cultures represented here, as well as the diverse foods. His experience leaving NMSD was different but he still enjoyed teaching students at Gallaudet.
In his lifetime, Dr. Vasishta has written six books and his seventh will be out soon. One of his books is titled ‘Deaf in Delhi’ and another is titled ‘Deaf in D. C.’
Eventually he resigned from Gallaudet to give his full attention to working with the Indian Government writing policies and books so that the people of India would change their attitude, thinking about Deaf people and begin to believe that Deaf people can do anything!"