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Signing Savvy Team > Susan Dramin-Weiss

Susan Dramin-Weiss

Instructor

Susan Dramin-Weiss is Deaf and a third generation ASL user from both sides of her family. She has been teaching ASL for 35 years and enjoys teaching ASL. She wants learners to understand about both the language and Deaf Culture.

She has been teaching ASL at the University of Illinois for 29 years. She was honored with an Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award from the University of Illinois. It was for designing the ASL course sequence, teaching at all levels, and providing a transformative experience for her students as they learn to use their ASL skills to communicate with members of the deaf community. In the past, she also taught at Springfield High School, Parkland Community College, and in public schools.

With a Bachelor’s degree from Gallaudet University, Susan is currently the director of the Gallaudet University Central Florida Alumni Chapter. She is also Vice President for the Tri-County Association for the Deaf in The Villages, Florida.

Born and raised in Springfield, Illinois to Deaf parents, she attended the Illinois School for the Deaf followed by attending Gallaudet University in Washington D.C. She received a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Gallaudet University.  

Susan moved back to Springfield, Illinois, working as a teacher aide in the public school and teaching ASL classes in high school. She then moved to Bloomingdale in Washington, D.C. and worked as a charge person for a group home with mental illness clients. After meeting her future husband, they moved to Champaign, Illinois where she taught ASL Classes at Parkland Community College, worked as a researcher with deaf kids in ASL with the University of Illinois, and worked as Deaf Services Coordinator at Center Independent Living at the same time. She continued teaching ASL Classes and tutoring in the area, until she decided to take a full-time ASL instructor position at the University of Illinois. She has now been an ASL Instructor at the University of Illinois for 29 years. Susan previously taught in person, but after the COVID pandemic everything changed, and she now teaches online for the University of Illinois.  

In 2021, Susan and her husband moved to The Villages, Florida. They have a daughter who is a CODA (Child Of Deaf Adult). Their daughter is now an interpreter.

In her spare time, Susan enjoys researching her family on Family Tree, traveling, taking pictures, playing cards, and hanging around with friends.