My name is Mark Berardi and here is a little bit about myself. I grew in a small rural town in Illinois. I moved to Utah where I attended Brigham Young University. There I received a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Applied Physics with a minor in Music. Following graduation, I moved to Michigan State University where I am a first-year PhD student. My major is Communicative Sciences and Disorders. My research focuses on voice science. This means that I study how the voice works.
I learned ASL from growing up with people that were deaf and learning sign. When I was 19, I moved to Arizona where I became involved with an ASL church. I also had roommates who were deaf. Through this time, I observed and learned ASL from those around me. Since then, I have become a volunteer interpreter and from time to time I get the opportunity to interpret.
I am interested in deaf education. I was involved with a project that taught sound physics to deaf students. I am also interested in Deaf culture as it relates to dance, theater, and music. The recent winner of Dancing with the Stars is deaf. Additionally, at the recent Tony awards there was a musical theater group that performed with ASL and the music.
I am married and my wife also signs, so we get to use ASL at home.