Tim Kettering was born in St. Paul, Minnesota but grew up on the Minneapolis side. Both of his parents are hearing, and once they found out their son was Deaf, they started learning sign language “contrary to many hearing parents of deaf children that do not learn sign.” They also joined a group of parents of deaf children, and Tim attended the deaf and hard hearing program at Seward Elementary (which is now known as the Anne Sullivan Communication Center). Before enrolling in high school, Tim decided to transfer to the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf (MSAD) for his ninth grade year and stayed there until he graduated from high school.
When it came time to enroll in college, Tim debated on Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in New York before settling on Gallaudet University in Washington, DC. He spent a few years at Gallaudet taking classes and majoring in computer science, but he did not graduate. He took a break from school to start working in the tech industry and has been in the field ever since.
He currently lives in San Francisco, California, where he lived for the past thirteen years. Tim works for Apple as an iOS engineer, where he works on the input experience team for iOS, focusing primarily on the keyboard component. Before that, he recently worked for Twitter for two years on their accessibility team. His role there was ensuring that the Twitter platform was made accessible for all of their users.
Tim became interested in the technology field while growing up. He took technology classes in secondary school and became drawn to working on computers. During his time at Gallaudet, he worked in the computer labs. Eventually he would develop his first web page. These experiences paved the path for him towards working in the technology field.
In the late 1990s, he interviewed for a tech start up company in Minnesota, and was accepted to the staff where he started working as a web developer. During his years with the company, Tim taught himself programming and coding skills. “Started working with Java, and then learned the other coding platforms and things just took off from there.”
“I enjoy working in this field - there’s always new challenges popping up everyday. The technology world is always evolving. New things are always popping up all the time. Every year we see new neat technology gadgets and tools and awesome ideas to explore.” Tim shares that it is a continuing challenge to keep updated on the new things and changes “What we did ten years ago is now considered obsolete and not used anymore. New skills to learn, new things to work on, it all keeps me on my toes!”
Tim shares that it was a challenge, early on in his career, to be able to stand up for his rights to accessibility accommodations in the workplace. “Many companies at that time did not have a good understanding of what they needed to do to accommodate their Deaf employees.” He recalls his frustrations in securing ASL interpreters for staff meetings. “Nowadays I’ve noticed that companies are more willing to meet those needs so it has not been a barrier lately.” Tim’s current challenge? “I’m getting older, and there are more and more young people coming into the field, so I’m finding myself struggling to keep up with their energy levels and get-go! It’s fascinating to see how things have changed.”
Tim shares the following advice: “I believe that if you want to get involved in a specific field for work, you can. It may be a bit more challenging, because you are deaf, but access accommodations are there to use, and one needs to understand what they need to be able to succeed in that field. At the same time, one needs to not be afraid to inform people what you need in order to do your work.” In his experience, Tim shares that “Most people are not out there to oppress you because they’re mean, or if they don’t like you, or that they hate deaf people? No, that’s not the case. It’s because they don’t understand what being deaf is all about.” He shares that it can be frustrating at times to re-teach the same things to people all the time about what you do, or need, but states that it is all part of the experience itself. “So roll up your sleeves and pave the path for others to learn and for those following you in your footsteps on that path. Know you will continue to educate people, it will always be part of your work, but you can do your work if you put yourself and your mind to it.”
Outside of work, Tim enjoys rock climbing, an activity he has been doing since he was eighteen years old. “That was one of the reasons why I moved here to California, there is a long list of things to do here.” When not climbing rocks, he enjoys assembling electronic devices together, such as LED lights, 3-D printers, erc. “I find that working with my hands is a good balance to my always typing away on coding all day on the computer.” He also enjoys time with his family and friends doing fun things together.
Tim shares the parting words: “I just want to say that for people who are considering entering the technology field, it is a great place to work especially on the accessibility front, because so many companies are very understanding and very open to making access happen. But please do understand that it is a fast-paced industry with things changing all the time, so you need to work hard to keep up with it all. But it is a wonderful field to work in, for those who are enthusiastic about it.”
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!
