Biography

Alesya Starayeva teaches American Sign Language (ASL) in Temple University’s Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. Before coming to Temple, she taught ASL at the Deaf Hearing Communication Center (DHCC), a nonprofit that supports the Deaf community in Philadelphia and the surrounding area. She also worked with Deaf children at the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf (PSD).

Originally from Uzbekistan, Alesya moved to the United States in 1997. She attended a Deaf school in Uzbekistan and later graduated from the Model Secondary School for the Deaf in Washington, D.C. Alesya comes from a Deaf family, and her first language was Russian Sign Language. She and her brother are second-generation Deaf. While science might point to genetics, her parents describe their own deafness as connected to childhood illness and early trauma.

Alesya understands what it’s like to learn a new language-she didn’t begin studying American Sign Language until she was 16. She believes strongly in visual communication of all kinds, not just Russian or American Sign Language. Her teaching centers on helping students enter and understand the Deaf world by encouraging them to think in new ways and rely less on sound and more on visual information.

She finds her inspiration in communication itself how people connect, interact, and understand each other. Alesya earned her bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies from Gallaudet University.

Education

• BA, Communication Studies (Minor in Family and Children Studies), Gallaudet University