Dr. Renee Gonzalez Puerto

Dr. René Gonzalez Puerto is a Deaf Person, bilingual oral and signed (fluent in Mexican Sign Language and Spanish) living in Houston, Texas, USA. He has been in the U.S. for two and a half years, before in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico, where he was born and grew up all his life. Since childhood, he has learned that we must show that we can exploit other capacities despite the condition. He has been a leader and activist for the Human Rights of Persons with Disabilities, for which he received an Honorary Doctorate from the “Ibero-American Doctoral Faculty and the Leadership of Today Foundation,” as well as several recognitions for the work that he continues to carry out among them: social and research projects in favor of this type of population. 

It is worth mentioning that he was the first Deaf person with two Post- doctorates at the Mexico level and finished the second degree in Law and training as a Logogenist. He has been the founder and president of the Helen Keller Foundation, United for Inclusion for People with Disabilities, A.C.; he was Secretary General of the Mexican Federation of the Deaf (FEMESOR), affiliated with the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD). He had also been a representative of non-governmental organizations of persons with disabilities before the Promoting Council for the Protection of Rights of the State of Yucatan), was a model teacher of Deaf language in an educational center of Special Education for the Deaf of the Ministry of Public Education in Yucatán with scientific research, also academic deputy director and coordinator of postgraduate studies (masters and doctorates) of the Universidad Santander Campus Yucatán. 

He has been a professor of Deaf and an interpreter in different areas in Mexico where interpretation services did not exist for Deaf people. He is the founder and president of the Academy of Deaf Professionalization and Linguistic Studies of Sign Languages of Mexico, S.C.P (AProSEL). He pursued several academic studies because he detected the educational needs of students with disabilities and saw the need to train with a master’s degree and a doctorate in education sciences. Later, a post-doctorate in the integral management of educational institutions and another in Epistemology and scientific research, which he concluded, and in this way, he was entering education, always seeking to make it inclusive. 

He is currently implementing educational improvement research projects. However, during all the years of study, he realized that people with disabilities and those who belong to groups that are in a situation of vulnerability, in general, had little access to what refers to the legal or juridical area, and that is why he decided to pursue a law degree (bachelor) because he wanted to be a lawyer for inclusion and people with disabilities. Currently, he is studying the “Interpreting Training Tech” (AAS) program at LoneStar College, Cyfair, Texas, USA, to develop some projects to professionalize interpretation and translation services in Mexican Sign Language (LSM) and Spanish for the hearing- impaired population of Mexico. Maybe to become a Certified Deaf Interpreter (CDI) Likewise, he is conducting scientific research on the linguistics and grammar of the LSM- Spanish and the education of the Deaf. He obtained the CONOCER Program certificate as an interpreter in Mexico in September last year. No one has finished learning any language; he is currently learning English and American Sign Language (ASL) to support Deaf Latino immigrants who do not know English as a teacher and interpreter. With AProSEL, the projects will continue to benefit the Mexican Deaf community and the Latino community living in Texas, USA. He always has the phrase in mind that the first deaf president of Gallaudet University, King Jordan, was located in Washington, D.C., USA: “A deaf person can do anything the same as a hearing person, except hear.”

Workshop

Deaf UNCLE Sam’s Workshop
Thursday, June 6 – 12:00 – 3:00 PM and Friday, June 7 – 9:00 am – 12:00 

Interpreter’s Toolkit: Multi-Language Access & Medication (ASL/ English/ Spanish/LSM)
Thursday, June 6 – 3:30 – 6:30 PM and Friday, June 7 – 1:30 – 4:30 PM