Tobias Noltee was born in Rochester, Minnesota but now calls Minneapolis, Minnesota home. He was born Deaf to a hearing family. He was not allowed to sign at home, although he was allowed to sign in school. “I spoke at home, and while it served me for many years, my speech skills have been on the decline.” He started out his education at the deaf school first, then was mainstreamed at the same school his brother attended for a few years before transferring to the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf (MSAD). He returned to the mainstream setting for a while before finishing up high school at MSAD and graduating from there. While he had full access to sign language communication at MSAD, he had no accommodations whatsoever during his mainstreaming years, relying on speech and lipreading to get by. “There was one student and one teacher, both signed somewhat and would fill me in on missing information. Not ideal.” Upon graduation, he attended the Technical and Vocational Institute (TVI), now known as St. Paul College today. After a while, he withdrew from school for many years, and later on in life Tobias went back to school, “But realized it was not for me. I did not see the point in staying, so I left again.”
Instead, he took the path towards employment. “My working history and journey has been on and off for many years. My main job in life was to be a parent. I raised eight children and saw them grow up, graduate and lead on lives of their own. Now I’m a grandfather to several grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.”
During his employment years, Tobias worked mainly in the healthcare field, as a Personal Care Attendant (PCA), working with people with disabilities that require one-on-one care. He also worked as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), oftentimes switching roles between the two. “In between employment, I would work different odd jobs - never the same job twice.” As a PCA, Tobias works with patients on their end of life journeys where he goes to the patient’s home and gets them set up for hospice care in their own homes. Oftentimes, the patient cannot afford to stay in a hospital, so Tobias makes them comfortable at their own homes and assists as needed. “It is a difficult process to undertake, taking care of the person until they pass away. It is hard, as we develop a relationship during their care time so it is like losing a family member.”
His duties include taking care of the patient, getting them cleaned up and bedding changed, doing light house cleaning. “Occasionally I would get a patient who has CP, and cannot move from bed to the chair, which would mean I would have to help lift them from one spot to another.”
One of the challenges Tobias faces in his line of work is communication with hearing people. “While I have good functional speech, it can lead to people forgetting that I also can’t hear, then they overemphasize on communication which does not help one bit.” When it comes to medicine distribution, he has to push the family aside and focus on ensuring the patient is receiving the correct medicine and the correct dosage allocated to them. “With a deaf person? Easy! But one challenge is reminding myself and the other person that I am there to work, to provide a service.” So it is two parallel journeys, one working with hearing people and one working with deaf people. “It’s number one, attitude, number two, communication, and number three, the resistance I sometimes get from the folks and their families.”
Tobias shares the following advice: “Do not give up. Make goals about your employment future. If you want to work in a specific line of work, do it. Do not give up. Your struggles will stick with you alongside the way - it is part of the learning process. Go out, break down walls, break down barriers, and your journey will eventually get you there.” He also encourages people to “Keep your dreams alive. Don’t let them die out. Chase those dreams - the ones you had as a child about where you want to work when you grew up - seize those dreams and make them happen.”
Outside of work, Tobias enjoys crocheting, making blankets, scarves, hats and so on. “I make a pile of these, and when the pile is big enough, I take it over to the homeless shelters to pass out to the folks, since you know, Minnesota winters are infamous for being bitterly cold.” He calls those homemade cozy gifts as “Warmth from the Heart” and hopes that the recipients see the gifts as a sign that they are valued and respected and know that there are folks out there who care about them. He also spends time with his pet dog, going for walks when they can.
In parting, Tobias encourages people to keep on challenging themselves, and keeping on the journey towards their goals in life. “Keep on knocking down those challenges one by one- don’t give up on yourself. Keep that dream alive.” He also encourages hearing people to “Ask questions, challenge yourself to learn about the deaf community. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and learn.”
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!
