NO BARRIERS

I was born a normal healthy babyboy in 1962. I am the youngest of five children who grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I lost 85 percent of my hearing in the low tones and 1 00 percent of the high tones before the age of five.

As luck would have it, I was born five doors down from one of the first oral deaf kindergarten programs in the country - Shawnee Park Elementary. I was fitted with one hearing aid, learned lip-reading and underwent extensive speech therapy.

In the 1960s, there was extensive debate on the future of deaf education and the options available to parents and children. My parents chose to mainstream me into a Catholic parochial school in the first grade. From there, I progressed through grade, middle and high schools in Grand Rapids, Michigan and Palos Verdes Estates, California.

At the age of 18, I decided that vanity was no longer an option. I needed to embrace two hearing aids to survive the rigors of a college education and successfully deal with a severe-to-profound hearing loss. It was a huge advance forward for me in terms of performance, because I managed to make it all the way to the Dean's List. I often joke that this was the year I went from mono to stereo sound and it made a huge difference!

I excelled at the University of Southern California in an education era that did not offer many resources to people with hearing loss in terms of personal aides, note-takers or technology tools. I just simply went to class and put the pieces together to prepare for and pass my tests. I had no idea what was out there and available to make my academic life easier.

To put things in perspective, in 1984, my senior year in college, Steve Jobs introduced a revolutionary new technology marvel called the personal computer. Little did any of us know how much our world and lives were to change - disabled or not - with this technology platform and a future innovation to come called the Internet.

Upon graduation from college, I was one of 1 2 people selected from a pool of 3,000 candidates for a position with a Fortune 500 company. With God's grace, family, friends and community, I found my way forward after college as a young, deaf professional in Seattle with a promising future in sales and marketing.

Shortly thereafter, I picked up a renewed relationship with my former high school classmate and family friend as she was recovering from an almost fatal car accident in Washington, D. C. We started dating and before most of our friends and family even knew we were dating, we were married within the year. Mary Beth has been my rock and inspiration these last 24 years!

In 1987, Mary Beth and I were married and moved to the Bay Area to start a promising future for both of us. In a very short time, we were a dual income couple working for two global corporations, bought our first house, and had our first son, John.

Something Went Horribly Wrong

In fall 1987, the world as we knew it changed - slowly at first - then it was completely turned upside down. I was 27 and was driving 40,000 miles a year as a rising sales executive. I had a series of three car accidents - all at sunset, all left hand turns - and where I broadsided other cars.

My reaction was "the first accident was other guy's problem, the second accident was that I needed to be more cautious." After the third accident, I knew something was horribly wrong. That "horribly wrong" took a year to figure out as I went from Stanford to the University of Michigan and Harvard to find out what was happening.

I found out that not only was I deaf but I had been slowly going blind all my life. I sat there in a doctor's office unraveling the mystery of an insidious disease that robs people of both their vision and hearing progressively over time. There were no treatments or cures. I was diagnosed with Usher Syndrome Type II. I was one of 15,000 people in the United States and 100,000 in the world with this leading cause of deaf-blindness.

This really set me, and us, back as we both emotionally and intellectually tried to come to terms with what my future looked like without hearing and vision. It was not a pretty prospect, yet Mary Beth and I chose to fight back and learn what we could about the disease. The Internet and genetic testing were in their infancy and were just two innovations that would help us learn, cope and share our journey with family, friends, community and the rest of the world these past 24 years.

Other Than Sight and Sound, Something Was Missing

By 2007, I worked my way up to being a director for sales and marketing of a Fortune 500 company. I had 30 employees across the United States, Canada and Mexico. My family grew to three sons and we were very busy.

Yet, something was still missing.

I needed a challenge and a vision to help me take on the next phase of my life. I decided to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa to get the word out about how hearing aids, FM systems and Bluetooth technology were changing the ways that people with hearing loss live, work and play.

It changed my life.

I retired from my 25-year career. I became a deaf-blind adventurer and storyteller, traveling the globe while sharing a message of inspiration, aspiration, hope and faith for those with hearing and vision loss. I have experienced the power of the human spirit and God has opened up many doors for me to help others.

I found out that I am not so special. Anyone can do what I am doing. I see amazing, inspiring and determined people wherever I travel around the world. My projects to get the word out on hearing loss are not about me. They are about people being encouraged to take on their own challenges and getting others to help them get to where they want to go in life one step at a time. By taking on the mountains in our lives, literally and figuratively, it is possible for anyone, with a disability or not, to seek a "Life Without Limits."

[Sidebar]

I found out that not only was I deaf but I had been slowly going blind all my life.... I was diagnosed with Usher Syndrome Type II. I was one of 15,000 people in the United States and 100,000 in the world with this leading cause of deaf-blindness.

[Sidebar]

Creating a Life Without Limits

From the Mount Kilimanjaro experience came the inspiration to give back to others as so many friends, family members and mentors have done for me over the years. I decided to launch the Hear The World Expedition to mentor the next generation of young deaf people. The expeditions are about taking responsibility for oneself, your disability and helping others around the globe.

In July 2010, we took a group of awesome kids, both with and without hearing loss, to the Peruvian Amazon on the first Hear The World Expedition. It was covered in social media and traditional media around the globe, and this next generation of kids with hearing loss is teaching us what "no barriers" leadership is about.

1. Explore with Bill

We are looking for more kids to ioin us on the second Hear The World Expedition with Global Explorers. The Grand Canyon Rim to River Expedition in partnership with the National Park Service will help us shatter expectations and move the conversation forward on hearing loss and its impact on 16 percent of the world's population. Applications start January 3, 2011. Visit www.globalexplorers.org

2. Travel and Listen to Bill

There is an incredible opportunity for adults, parents, families and kids to ioin us in South Africa next July for the World Deaf Congress 2011, sponsored by the United Nations. I will be there to share a message of "Life Without Limits" using assistive technologies such as hearing aids and FM systems for hearing loss. I'd love to have a strong HLAA presence in one of the most remarkable countries in the world in South Africa, www.wfd2011.com

3. Adventure with Bill

I am on the board of directors of No Barriers USA (www.nobarriers.org) a powerful community of modern day pioneers who use the experience of nature to promote innovation, education and assistive technologies that create transformative life experiences and inspire people with challenges to live full and active lives.

Every couple of years, in a naturally beautiful and challenging setting, the international No Barriers Summit brings together adventurers and outdoor enthusiasts as well as scientists and innovators for an outdoor summit unlike any other. The No Barriers Summit combines hands-on clinics, product demonstrations, nature excursions, films, art and music, keynote addresses, leadership exercises and a scientific symposium. We feel there is no way to separate technologies from challenges and believe that inspiration and opportunity fuel achievement.

This Summit will give people who live with challenges the technologies and techniques needed to help them live more active lives. Not only is the Summit a multi-day event, but it is also multi-faceted, consisting of:

* Summit Symposiums

* Life Experience Clinics

* Innovation Village

* Inspiring Speakers and Films

* Trailblazer Networking

Each day is about sharing, partnership, inspiration, discovery, exploration and accomplishment. Here, you'll meet people like you-people who let themselves dream big and are invested in creating a bold vision for tomorrow. No Barriers Summits replace our perceptions about disability and personal challenges with a renewed belief in what is possible and what will be in the future.

The No Barriers USA 2011 Festival runs from June 28 - July 2, 2011, in Winter Park, Colorado. Visit www.nobarriersusa.org/summits/2011/.

[Author Affiliation]

Walk Your Own Path, a film by Josh Levine, documented Barkeley's climb of Mount Kilimanjaro. The climb was covered in the July 2008 edition of Outside Magazine. Bill is active in community service. He is past president of the Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (AEVI). He is on the executive committee of the Hearing Loss Association of America (Grand Rapids chapter). Bill can be reached via e-mail at billsmessage@att.net.