Bring your lunch (we suggest the Library's Riverside Cafe!) for a chance to chat with Kyle, listen to his story, ask him questions, and help welcome him to our Yampa Valley community.

Meet Kyle Rosenberg

Hello! As I'm a bit unorthodox but effective in my ways as a Disabled person, This would be a great way to introduce myself.

In the October 1950 issue of Scouting magazine, a very progressive and novel idea got a major boost when Dr. Forest E. Witcraft wrote his brief essay, ́ ́ Within My Power. ́ ́ In this, the oft-quoted and mis-quoted phrase appeared,  "A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove. But the world may be different, because I was important in the life of a boy(child)."

After a brief stint as an automotive mechanic, I realized it wasn’t the best use of my ability to connect with and bring out the best in people. To address this, I embarked on, as the late, great Jerry Garcia would have said, a "long and strange trip" that continues to this day.

I graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of New Mexico with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Intercultural Communication, with an emphasis on Psychology and Philosophy, and became the first Deaf person to achieve such. In recognition of this, I was afforded the honor of leading convocation upon graduation. After a few years working, gaining experience, and discovering the intricacies of human connections across the country, I went to Minnesota in the middle of the coldest winter in recent history, where I graduated Summa Cum Laude from Minnesota State Mankato with my Master of Science in Experiential Education and an emphasis on Universal Design and Accessibility for individuals with disabilities in outdoor settings. My mentor was Dr. Jasper S. Hunt (North Carolina Outward Bound School), who himself was a protege of Willi Unsoeld (Outward Bound legend, founding faculty of The Evergreen State College, and Peace Corps Director). I believe I may be the first Deaf person/s to achieve this distinction. Somewhere along the way, I also obtained my Non-Profit Management certificate from LaSalle University and, more proudly, my Association of Community Rehabilitation Educators Certificate, as I am and will always be of the people, for the people, and by the people.

In many ways, I've carried on, or at least attempted to, the fine, proud traditions and legacies left to us by giants in Education and Advocacy that include: Judy Heumann, Maria Montessori, Frank Bowe, John Dewey, Ed Roberts, Willi Unsoeld, Paulo Freire, Lloyd B. Sharp, Kurt Hahn, Paul Petzoldt, Benton MacKaye, Rachel Carson and countless others.

It would be safe to say that as a disability advocate and ally, the ultimate goal of mine is to create a location, a program, a curriculum or a philosophy that would be appreciative and ultimately supportive of the concept of "Nihil de nobis, sine nobis" (Nothing about us without us) which is at the root of our most fundamental necessity. This comes from my unique position of straddling both the disabled and the able-bodied worlds. We are at an epoch of innovation and progressive approaches in Education, Community Development, Intersectionality, and Communication, and so the time is ripe for unique and ground-breaking growth.

The best way to learn is to unlearn! As a society, we have a whole bunch of un-learning to do!

See you at the library. Let's talk!