David Crocker.

I was born in 1958, at Pearl Harbor Hawaii. Adopted at two days old by a Navy family, and raised around the globe, before we settled in Annapolis, Md.. I lost my hearing between the ages of two and six, became totally deaf in my right ear, and was left with about twenty percent hearing in my left ear (that is about an 75 to 80 db loss). I was "mainstreamed", and thanks to extensive speech therapy and lip reading tutoring, I was comfortable in the hearing world.

I met my first group of hard of hearing and deaf friends in 1990, when I was more or less tricked into attending a party hosted by the Young Adults Group of Self Help for Hard of Hearing People. At that party I met many people from all walks of life with a common bond, our hearing . The ease of communication between all of us was a revelation...I also got five dates out of that party, and have been involved with SHHH and the rest of the HOH and Deaf community ever since.

Since that auspicious beginning, I have been a political and social activist with over twelve years of experience at the local, state and national level. The detailed resume of my civic involvement is as follows:

a.. Charter member of the Annapolis Group of SHHH, served as newsletter editor 1990-1996, Vice-President 1992-1994, and President 1994-1996.

b.. Member of the local organizing committee for the SHHH National convention at Baltimore 1992-1994. Served as Chair of Fundraising Committee, and provided administrative and technical support during the convention.

c.. Member of the organizing committee for the Northern Virginia Coping with Hearing Loss Conference, 1997.

d.. Volunteered as Signing Santa's elf for Deaf Reach, 1993-1998.

e.. Served as Co-President of the SHHH Nova One Chapter in 1998, and continued on the Board as Past-President in 1999.

f.. Volunteer at the SHHH Hard of Hearing Children Picnics, under the auspices of the Heroes with Hearing Loss Mentor Program, 1997-2000.

g.. Member of the Strategic Planning Committee for Nova One 1999-2001.

h.. Organized and presented workshop entitled,"Sex and Hearing Loss" at the SHHH National convention in New Orleans, 1999.

i.. Serve on the Nova One Steering Committee, 2000-present.

j.. Volunteer for the SHHH National Day of Hearing Screening, 2000 & 2001.

k.. Represented Nova One at the Northern Virginia Community Roundtable sponsored by NVRC, 2000 and 2001.

l.. Serving on the Nominating Committee for the Board of Trustees of SHHH National, 2001-2004

m.. Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the Northern Virginia Resource Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

n.. Chair of the Virginia Relay Advisory Council.

I now live in Arlington, Va. with my wife, Virginia and our two year old son, David.