Melinda

At 16 years old, Melinda was in a car accident and hospitalized. She was pronounced brain dead and conversations were initiated about what the next steps were as she was on life support. All seemed hopeless and her family prepared to grieve. However, Melinda’s sister had caught out of the corner of her eye Melinda’s hand moving. Startled and curious, the sister grabbed Melinda’s hand and “listened.” Melinda was finger spelling “hurt” onto the palm of her sister’s hand over and over. The screens were reading Melinda as brain dead, but clearly, she was attempting to communicate.

Prior to the accident, Melinda had convinced her sister to learn some sign language mostly out of curiosity. Growing up in a small, rural town in Iowa, with a population of 300 people, there weren’t many conversations or knowledge around sign language, or disabilities in general. However, that didn’t stop Melinda from expressing her curiosity about sign language, and that would be what would save her life. As she lay in the hospital, all signs reading that she was not going to recover, Melinda was taken off the ventilator on day 10 and pronounced a medical miracle.

Despite surviving the traumatic event, Melinda had to relearn everything – walking, talking, and eating. American Sign Language (ASL) became the primary form of communication for her as her brain struggled to process information. She retained a short-term memory disability from the accident but has made an immense recovery and since is able to communicate both verbally and with sign language.

Inspired to pursue disability advocacy and to further educate herself, she received a Master’s in Exceptional Student Education from Nova Eastern University in 2019, after having received a Bachelor’s in Liberal Studies. Melinda also worked in special education and case management since she was 18 years old.

In February 2024, Melinda transitioned to Alta California Regional Center as the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community Services Specialist where she provides consulting support to direct service providers to further enhance their knowledge on disability awareness and information related to the Americans with Disabilities Act. She enjoys providing support to all departments and being an integral part in educating staff and service providers, along with supporting clients.

Outside of her role at the regional center, Melinda is studying to be a holistic health practitioner/coach because she wants to heal people holistically and help them tap into their energies. For Melinda, understanding the power of energies and holistic healing has helped her recover and wishes to help others do the same.