About the authors

  • Razi Zarchy, a white man in his early 40s with short black hair, is wearing a dark blue button-up shirt with a small white pattern on it. He is smiling at the camera in front of a blurry background that shows he is outdoors in front of trees.

    Razi M. Zarchy, SLPD, CCC-SLP

    Razi Zarchy, SLPD, CCC-SLP (he/him) is a hearing, ASL-fluent speech-language pathologist who specializes in working with deaf and hard of hearing children birth to 18. He worked in direct practice with children and their families for 12 years, particularly in early intervention and preschool.

    Razi earned his Bachelor of Arts in linguistic anthropology at UCLA, Master of Science in speech-language pathology at California State University, Sacramento (Sacramento State), and clinical doctorate in speech-language pathology (SLPD) from Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions. He is a co-author of ASL at Home. His main areas of interest include developing assessment and diagnostic criteria for language deprivation in children and identifying ways for hearing families of deaf and hard of hearing children to provide an accessible, language-rich environment at home.

    Razi currently works as a lecturer and clinical instructor at Sacramento State and is a student in the PhD in Education and Leadership at Pacific University, Oregon.

    Click here for his website.

  • Leah, a white Latina woman in her mid-30s with dark brown hair in a half ponytail, gray short-sleeved shirt, and dangly beaded earrings, sits outside and smiles at the camera in front of a hedge of ivy.

    Leah C. Geer, PhD

    Leah Geer, PhD’s English pronouns are she/her/hers, her Spanish pronoun is ella, and in ASL, pronouns are ungendered, so for personal pronouns use this 👉handshape, and for possessive pronouns, use this ✋handshape.

    Leah is an Associate Professor and Program Coordinator of American Sign Language and Deaf Studies at California State University, Sacramento. She received a PhD in linguistics from The University of Texas at Austin.

    She was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and identifies as Latina. After high school, she attended New Mexico State University where she majored in Kinesiology. After becoming increasingly interested in motor learning and development, she attended Gallaudet University for a Master's degree in Linguistics, allowing for a fusion of interests in motor skill acquisition combined with signed language acquisition. Inspired by her experience co-authoring ASL at Home, she decided to go back to school to pursue a new specialty in supporting deaf and hard of hearing infants, toddlers, and their families. She earned a Graduate Certificate from Gallaudet University in June 2023, and an MA in Early Intervention Studies in December 2024.

    Click here for her website.