Jose Bertan
José E. Bertrán Ortega was born and raised in Puerto Rico. During his early years he had a service calling which at first he channeled through his church where he became a leader. At age 13 his life was impacted by a sign language interpreter who would summarize 5 minutes of the TV newscast for the Deaf. Right then and there he swore to learn the language that had such a huge impact in his life and to know the people that used that language. It wasn’t until many years later when he started his Bachelor’s degree in the area of psychology that he learned sign language and became an interpreter in his church for Sunday Mass. This was the entry door to a new world that he had never contacted before; the Deaf Community. Upon finishing his Bachelor’s of Art in Psychology and after experiencing and witnessing the needs of the Deaf Community, he decided to pursue his graduate studies in Psychology at Gallaudet’s University School Psychology Program at Washington DC. During the three year program he obtained his Masters in Developmental Psychology and a Psychology Specialist Degree in School Psychology with Specialization in Deafness and Learning Disabilities. Although José had opportunities to stay in the States as a trilingual psychologist, he decided to go back to Puerto Rico to support the Deaf community there.
Upon arriving to Puerto Rico he was offered a Staff psychologist position in a new Vocational Rehabilitation Center that would specialize in Deaf Clients. There the person that interviewed him for the job was the same one that he had seen many years ago in TV and that would inspire his involvement with the Deaf Community. As a Psychologist there, Mr. Bertrán had the opportunity to support his fellow co-workers at the Center providing presentations of the newest trends in the area of Deaf Rehab technology and practices. A couple of years later he discovered what would be his true passion, working within the confines of a non-profit organization. In 1993 he became the Sub- Director of Oídos, Inc. This was a non-profit organization that would teach sign language classes to the hearing community and that provided support to the needs of the Deaf Community. He worked there for a couple of years until in 1995 he decided to establish a non-profit organization to provide interpretation services to the Deaf Community and advocate for their rights. After 12 years, this organization is now in the process of creating more opportunities for the Deaf Community. Three years ago this organization started a new project called the Quantell Interpretation of Channel 6 (local PBS Station) newscast which airs Monday thru Fridays. Another project that the organization also runs is a weekly TV Program called ABC en Señas which also airs on Channel 6, Saturday’s at 4:30 p.m.
In 1995 Mr. Bertrán also started to work in another non-profit organization where he became the Clinical Director. The organization served the Handicapped population providing evaluations to children from the Education Department, special education program in Puerto Rico. There he was in charge of a clinical staff. Some of the professionals that were under his supervision were psychologists, educators, audiologists, speech pathologists, pediatricians, social workers and neurologists. During the 12 years that he worked at the Diagnostic Center for Children with Learning Disabilities, Mr. Bertran gave conferences in different areas of Puerto Rico about the modifications that teacher’s had to do within the classroom to accommodate children with different learning styles.
In 2001 Mr. José Bertrán became the Host of a TV Program called ABC In Signs at the local PBS Station Channel 6. And last year became the Executive Producer of the Show. This program provides information accessible to the Deaf community.
Mr. Bertran has been a guest speaker in Dominican Republic and in Mexico in themes related to the Deaf Student’s development, including topics such as self esteem and leadership. He is currently working as a consultant to the Spanish marketing team of HOVRS en Español.
