Mr. Distlerath is the American Sign Language teacher at San Dimas. This is his

5th year teaching at San Dimas and he plans to add many more. 

Mr. D went to school at the University of LaVerne and CSUN before he started his teaching career. Along with teaching, Distlerath also interprets for many events. He has been interpreting professionally for 33 years of his life and takes it very seriously. 

Growing up, Mr. D was raised by two deaf parents. His mom was born deaf due to genetics and his dad was born deaf due to a medical condition. Growing up with two deaf parents as a fully hearing child was tiring according to Mr. D. He says, “There’s a lot of responsibility growing up with deaf parents.” He explains that when he was little, deaf parents were all he knew and he quickly realized the difference. 

Going to school as a child was hard for Mr. D. For the first four or five years, he spent most of his time in speech classes or special education classes because he had not spoken during his life. He would primarily sign to his parents which caused him to lack in speaking skills. Because he spent most of his time in speech classes, making friends was hard but he gained popularity due to his ability to sign. 

On the topic of his teaching career, he taught for 2 years at a high school and 2 years at a junior college before coming to San Dimas. “Hearing your stories about signing to deaf people in the real world,” Mr. D says when asked about his favorite part about teaching ASL. He explains that seeing his students’ ability to learn and sign something they didn’t know really makes teaching enjoyable. 

“I want them to be comfortable with who they are and know they are capable of doing anything they want,” says Mr. D. He is very open about accepting other people. He hopes that if he can accept his students for who they are then they will pass that on to others. He wants to leave a lasting impact on San Dimas and make the school a better and safe place. 

The students at San Dimas love Mr. Distlerath. His room is always filled with people during break and lunch. He always has a listening ear and is open to talk about anything. Students at San Dimas know that his class is a safe space to come in with friends or even by themselves. He puts smiles on faces every day and he will leave a positive effect on the students of San Dimas High School.