Jones, Astrid

Born deaf and grew up in St. Croix, VI; his two brothers were also deaf. Basic education was mostly in classes with other deaf children, though he was also mainstreamed for a short time with inept interpreters. His mother died when he was 5, and two older brothers, Alton and Alex (also deaf) left for the U.S. along with two hearing sisters, leaving Astrid alone with his father at age 11. He fell in with the "wrong crowd". Alex, a Gallaudet University student, set Astrid straight and encouraged him to apply to Gallaudet also; he did and was accepted in 1996. Majored in communication arts and planned to pursue a M.A. in counseling, then return to the Virgin Islands to set up a deaf education program to help other VI deaf people.