Pa R. Xiong was born in Laos, and now lives in St. Paul, Minnesota. “Pa means flower in my native language.” Pa was born hearing and became deaf at a young age. Her family is hearing, and Pa used home sign language with her family and found it challenging to communicate with her family. When she was 17 years old, she moved to a new foster family of two.
Her foster mom, Kelly Anderson, is hearing and has been a strong communicator in American Sign Language (ASL). She has worked as a teacher at Metro Deaf School, and is a former interpreter. She has supported and communicated with Pa for over 20 years. Pa also has a foster brother, Jesse Seelye, who is deaf and blind. Pa has two biological hearing children who were placed with an adoptive family, and they both know sign language.
For her education, she attended Como Park Elementary in St. Paul for grades K–6 in a program for deaf and hard of hearing students. She then moved on to Highland Park Middle School for grades 7–8 for mainstream classes, and later graduated from Humboldt Secondary School in June 2004.
During high school, Pa participated in the STEPS Program, working part-time after school in the lunchroom without pay as part of a school-year internship. Afterward, she attended Adult Basic Education at Hubbs School for the Deaf through Communication Services for the Deaf (CSD). She also took a U.S. Citizenship class at Hubbs Center on University Avenue and passed her citizenship test in February 2006.
From 2006–2007, Pa attended Minnesota North Star Academy (MNSA), a charter school for the deaf, which is now merged into Metro Deaf School (MDS). She worked mornings on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Wabasha Deli for three and a half years, and later earned her high school diploma from MNSA.
In January 2008, Pa began working in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. She has now been there for 17 years as a federal employee. “I enjoy my work, and through patience and dedication, I’ve earned promotions and awards. I plan to continue until I retire.”
With the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Pa works as an administrative assistant, where she does data entry work on the computer, handles phone calls and travel arrangements, and checks over information paperwork for accuracy. She enjoys being independent in her work and that it pays well, as well as the bonus perks of traveling for work.
She has worked with the Army Corps for the past seventeen years, “for a long time! It’s a Deaf-friendly environment and I love working there.” They provide Pa with ASL interpreters for meetings and any other requests. “Interpreters are available upon request whenever I need one.” But these need to be arranged ahead in advance so that comes as a barrier for Pa.
Pa shares the following advice: “Help your coworkers learn how to work with a Deaf employee. Educate them. Be flexible with communication and build a toolkit of different ways to communicate with hearing people.”
When not working, Pa’s hobbies include watching Chinese movies, gardening, Diamond Dot, traveling, crafts, and shopping.
In parting, Pa shares these words of wisdom: “We Deaf are lifelong teachers - we always find ourselves teaching others - at work, in life, at school - how to interact with Deaf people. How to communicate with Deaf people. Don’t shun that - embrace that role to help build bridges in the community.”
The #CanDoAnything campaign showcases people who are deaf, deafblind, or hard of hearing at work, giving them an opportunity to share what they do at their jobs and explain how communication access works for them. This campaign shows what our community can do, which is anything!
