From Kamper to Leader: Aaron Miller Comes Full Circle
Aaron Miller doesn’t recall much about his first time at Deaf and Hard of Hearing Service’s Kids Kamp.
When his parents signed him up, he was too young to remember much he said. But looking back now, Aaron sees that early exposure as something quietly powerful, even if it took him a while to understand why. It planted a seed.
And in recent summers that seed bloomed into a new role for Aaron as he moved from Kamper to co-leader, helping guide the younger and middle-aged campers even as he was once guided at the same age by a variety of D&HHS leaders.
What pulls him back each year is not complicated: Kamp is his community.
“It’s where I can see people like me, who can understand at least some of my struggles, and who I don’t need to stress about being ‘normal’ with,” Aaron said. He also comes back for the parents — so they, and their Deaf children, can see firsthand that Deaf kids grow up to become successful adults.
He credits a lot of factors in his life for getting him to where he is today, Kids Kamp being one of them.
“As a kid, I was surrounded by so much Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing culture, I just thought and treated it as completely normal,” Aaron said. Now that he’s older, he’s glad kids today can grow up the same way — with being Deaf treated not as an exception, but simply as who they are. “It’s a great resource I was happy to have, and am glad they can utilize it for their benefit too.”
What’s surprised him most as a leader and not a Kamper is how much effort goes into making sure every participant has a good experience.
As a Kamper, Aaron was already fluent in the language and culture around him. But for kids who don’t yet know sign, that same world can be a real challenge to navigate. He’s come to believe those kids need room to figure things out at their own pace. “That’s what I’ve tried my best to do,” he said. “Allow the Kampers to process everything themselves, at their own pace.”
Aaron is careful about calling himself a role model, but he hopes the kids at Kamp walk away having learned something about patience and about meeting people where they are.
“It’s not easy to take it slower than you’re used to sometimes,” he said, “but sometimes other people have a different pace than yours.” Kids who are still growing and figuring themselves out are setting that pace as they go, he said, and it’s on the adults around them to match it.
Looking ahead, Aaron wants to keep showing up. Working alongside fellow leaders and volunteers, the way he has been, suits him well, and he hopes other former Kampers will consider doing the same.
“Please volunteer,” Aaron said simply. “Not only are you representing the Deaf community, you’re showing that Deaf kids can grow to have an impact on the world.
