ASL at Deaf Universities

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PrincessChloe

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Hi. I am in the process of applying for universities, but I feel uncomfortable with applying to Gallaudet, Rochester, or California. I don't understand how prevalent ASL is at their campuses. I am HoH and I have operated as a hearie for most of my life. When I am around deafies who sign, I'm just as confused as when I'm around hearies who are talking over my head. I don't feel comfortable with either group honestly, which is rather lonely.

What I'm wondering is, is ASL something that is required for everyday communication at all three schools? I mean, is it frowned upon to want to talk or to use very limited ASL? I do know a little ASL but I've had little practice because I was mainsteamed since preschool (lost hearing at about 5). I don't have any deaf/HoH friends to practice with. So I feel really uncomfortable with going to a deaf university because I'd probably be just as isolated as at a hearie university because I am not fluent in sign and think and act like a hearie apart from being HoH.

I do want to learn ASL, though. It's just hard for me because I'd like to be able to practice with people who aren't family members. My family only knows the signs for 'yes', 'no', and 'maybe'.
 
Many people feel this way. What I can say is give deaf/HOH community a try.
If you don't take a challenge you will never know. As I can see that you already have experiences to be in hearing schools and now probably going to university where there is a program supports deaf/hoh? Many freshmen didn't know ASL and later fluent in it. I will suggest you to govCSUN. It is a beautiful campus, it is IN CALI, and many students are from outside the state and NOT TOO ASL/deaf power thing.
 
Actually PrincessChloe, there are still a lot of students who come to NTID and Gally knowing little to no sign. In the old days, kids from CID, Clarke and St. Joseph's (the three oral boarding schools) as well as the other oral deaf schools/programs ended up at Gally/NTID. From what I've heard from my friends, there are a lot of oral and mainstreamed and HOH folks now attending Gally and NTID. In other words, there are a LOT of inbetweeners.....but they soon become fluent in ASL!
 
I can't say anything about Gallaudet or California, but I did go to RIT.

During my time at RIT, I found that there were more deaf-friendly hearing people compared to anywhere else I went. I could go to a restaurant and likely get a server who was more patient compared to those in restaurants around here. Some even learn sign language during their time in Rochester while going to college. If hearing people can learn sign language, I'm sure you can too!

There are a lot of hard of hearing students at RIT that know sign language. I'm sure you can adapt. You could make friends with anyone and learn from there. :)

When I was in college, there was a weekly voluntary workshop called "No Voice Zone". It was a workshop where anyone could go in to learn or teach sign language. Those who wanted to teach could volunteer their help. Those who wanted to learn could attend and watch. They broke the whole thing into 3 to 4 categories. First category was numbers, letters, colors, anything very basic. Second category was easy words. Third category was harder words. Fourth category was full fluent communication. There's no signing up required. No fees required. It happens once a week from 9 pm to 10 pm.

... I don't know if it still runs today. :dunno:
 
Gallaudet was founded on the basis of the Deaf community and ASL. English is spoken everywhere outside of Gallaudet. If you prefer not to use ASL, then dont go to Gallaudet. There are plenty of universities in this country that do not use ASL.
 
There is one question I want to ask you, PrincessChloe. Are you able to follow what the professor and hearing students in your class on the subjects of what need to be discuss and talked about in the classroom? If you are hard of hearing probably a mild hearing loss that you are able to follow what they are talking about. For us, we hardly can not hear, even with lipreading, it is hard to understand what the subjects they were talking about. Do you want to have good grades without failing or lowering the grades if you don't understand and could not follow them? That is the reason why we need ASL, mind you not cued speech unless you would prefer that, to be able understand and follow what they said. We get good grades this way. It help us much better and getting all the good grades and less on the struggle to understand the hearing students and hearing professors. But if you don't want to go into the Universities where they have Deaf program and ASL, then you don't have to go into that. Just make sure you understand them otherwise you might as well use CART to help you understand better with good grades. Good luck on finding the right University. :)
 
If you are hard of hearing probably a mild hearing loss that you are able to follow what they are talking about
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Even HOH kids expend a tremendous amount of energy in using their residual hearing.
That is where ASL comes in, even for "oral successes" or mild and/or HOH kids....we don't have to work so hard to understand stuff.
 
abcCity said:
Many people feel this way. What I can say is give deaf/HOH community a try.
If you don't take a challenge you will never know. As I can see that you already have experiences to be in hearing schools and now probably going to university where there is a program supports deaf/hoh? Many freshmen didn't know ASL and later fluent in it. I will suggest you to govCSUN. It is a beautiful campus, it is IN CALI, and many students are from outside the state and NOT TOO ASL/deaf power thing.
Click to expand...

Agreed! I honestly would try it, b/c its such an amazing experience....there are some militants and deafer then thou folks, but all in all, if you demonstate a willingness to learn ASL and be involved in Deaf culture, you will be accepted!
 
I'm HOH also. When I applied to university, I did not consider attending a college strong in ASL, partly because all of my education had been done in a hearing environment via CART or notetakers. Unfortunately, I was also not aware of RIT and Gally. I personally wasn't ready to make a shift to ASL within an academic setting during the transition to college. I was afraid that I would still need the CART/note takers on top of having an ASL prof/interpreter and I would be overwhelmed at trying to pay attention to 2 or 3 places at once. Saying that, however, doesn't mean that attending those schools would not have worked for me, they might be very good about catering to HOH students than I am aware of. I stuck with what I knew worked for me academically and decided to add ASL into the mix socially as my schedule allowed. I had a good experience with the path I chose. If I could re-do my college life, I think I would have looked closer at RIT but I have no regrets.

College is a good time to explore change (ASL) though, just make sure that you have access to the support (CART, notetakers) if it doesn't work out in the way you expect. The disabilities services was a deciding factor for me when looking at hearing colleges. Make sure they have their act together.
 
If you want to, I mean really want to, learn ASL, immersing yourself in the language or environment where it is prevelance is the best way to go. Take the challenge. That was what I did in order to become fluent in ASL from growing up oral-only. Cant hurt to try! :)
 
shel90 said:
If you want to, I mean really want to, learn ASL, immersing yourself in the language or environment where it is prevelance is the best way to go. Take the challenge. That was what I did in order to become fluent in ASL from growing up oral-only. Cant hurt to try! :)
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AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's also an amazing experience for raised in the hearing world, dhh kids.
 
shel90 said:
If you want to, I mean really want to, learn ASL, immersing yourself in the language or environment where it is prevelance is the best way to go. Take the challenge. That was what I did in order to become fluent in ASL from growing up oral-only. Cant hurt to try! :)
Click to expand...

You should take this advice. :)
 
shel90 said:
If you want to, I mean really want to, learn ASL, immersing yourself in the language or environment where it is prevelance is the best way to go. Take the challenge. That was what I did in order to become fluent in ASL from growing up oral-only. Cant hurt to try! :)
Click to expand...

I second this. I'm hearing, and my deaf ed major has a one year immersive residential practicum at a deaf school (where I am right now). Outside of our rooms, we're required to sign, and I've really gotten much better at ASL since I started it!

Also, Undergraduate Admissions, New Signers Program - Gallaudet University
 
PrincessChloe said:
Hi. I am in the process of applying for universities, but I feel uncomfortable with applying to Gallaudet, Rochester, or California. I don't understand how prevalent ASL is at their campuses. I am HoH and I have operated as a hearie for most of my life. When I am around deafies who sign, I'm just as confused as when I'm around hearies who are talking over my head. I don't feel comfortable with either group honestly, which is rather lonely.

What I'm wondering is, is ASL something that is required for everyday communication at all three schools? I mean, is it frowned upon to want to talk or to use very limited ASL? I do know a little ASL but I've had little practice because I was mainsteamed since preschool (lost hearing at about 5). I don't have any deaf/HoH friends to practice with. So I feel really uncomfortable with going to a deaf university because I'd probably be just as isolated as at a hearie university because I am not fluent in sign and think and act like a hearie apart from being HoH.

I do want to learn ASL, though. It's just hard for me because I'd like to be able to practice with people who aren't family members. My family only knows the signs for 'yes', 'no', and 'maybe'.
Click to expand...

I was just at an Open House at RIT and I was told that many students go there without knowing ASL. ASL is not required for the classes there or so I was told.

I was also talking with several deaf alumni of RIT and they said that there are more oral deaf at RIT these days who do not know sign and don't show a lot of interest in learning sign. That might be anecdotal though. I saw plenty of people there who sign, but also quite a few oral deaf, too (who may or may not sign).

Not knowing ASL would not be a barrier to taking classes at NTID or RIT.
 
they said that there are more oral deaf at RIT these days who do not know sign and don't show a lot of interest in learning sign. That might be anecdotal though. I saw plenty of people there who sign, but also quite a few oral deaf, too (who may or may not sign
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).
Really?!?! Now that's unusual.......I thought that it was pretty much the norm for oral kids to come there and learn ASL....bballboy can you chime in?
 
deafdyke said:
).
Really?!?! Now that's unusual.......I thought that it was pretty much the norm for oral kids to come there and learn ASL....bballboy can you chime in?
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It was just something a couple of people I talked to said. They said that many of the oral deafs, especially with chochlear implants, tended not to be as interested in sign language, preferring to be completely oral.

But who knows? Maybe they were blowing it out of proportion, or they had a negative experience with one or two people and attribute it to the whole group.

The oral deafs I personally met were signing as well. I didn't meet any who didn't.
 
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Well, I hope it is not too late, but Gallaudet University offers New Signers Program (NSP) for new students who are not fluent in or never learn ASL.
 
Hey, I'm currently at Cal State Northridge (CSUN) and we have people of all upbringings here. I'm in the Lighthouse Dorm, which is for Deaf/HoH, and Deaf Studies Majors, and is a primarily ASL environment, but if you don't know ASL, or are learning, it's fine. My RA came here not knowing much at all last year and she's great. As for the general campus, people are really easygoing. We have a ton of ASL students, so proficiency in sign is NOT a must. It's understood that many people are learning and the environment tends to accommodate that. It's not frowned upon at all if you don't know sign, and people are incredibly helpful. Especially living in the LH. The Deaf Studies faculty are great, and the National Center on Deafness is a stellar resource.

Lemme know if you have any questions. ^_^

I can't speak for Gally or Rochester, because I've never even seen the campuses.
 
PrincessChloe said:
Hi. I am in the process of applying for universities, but I feel uncomfortable with applying to Gallaudet, Rochester, or California. I don't understand how prevalent ASL is at their campuses. I am HoH and I have operated as a hearie for most of my life. When I am around deafies who sign, I'm just as confused as when I'm around hearies who are talking over my head. I don't feel comfortable with either group honestly, which is rather lonely.

What I'm wondering is, is ASL something that is required for everyday communication at all three schools? I mean, is it frowned upon to want to talk or to use very limited ASL? I do know a little ASL but I've had little practice because I was mainsteamed since preschool (lost hearing at about 5). I don't have any deaf/HoH friends to practice with. So I feel really uncomfortable with going to a deaf university because I'd probably be just as isolated as at a hearie university because I am not fluent in sign and think and act like a hearie apart from being HoH.

I do want to learn ASL, though. It's just hard for me because I'd like to be able to practice with people who aren't family members. My family only knows the signs for 'yes', 'no', and 'maybe'.
Click to expand...


HI,
I am went hoh as an adult. I go to school at California University and I use RTC's in class to follow along. I started taking ASL classes two years ago, and now I know enough to use ASL terps. I voice for myself in class. I don't sign much myself at all because no one I'm friends or family with sign. Sometimes I sign to my terps if I don't want other people to know what I'm saying, but other than that, I voice for myself always. It isn't weird at all. I wondered the same thing as you when I first started using ASL terps, and they said a lot of hoh people use them for terps, then voice for themselves.
The other option is the RTC (real time captioner) which is what I used until I got familiar enough with ASL to use terps. Now I find ASL much more enjoyable. But RTC has its upsides. Transcripts make GREAT notes! When I use an ASL terp, they usually send it two because they take turns taking breaks. Then if I need notes I have to request a note-taker to come in as well and take notes for me. I can't take notes and watch a terp at the same time. So basically I have a whole entourage I bring to class with me, which can be embarrassing and make me feel self conscious. The RTC gives me a wireless monitor to put on my desk and sits in a corner. Most people don't even notice her. Its less embarrassing, but its still embarrassing because a lot of people don't realize I am using her because I am hoh. They think I have a learning disability and am using her to take notes or something. I hate that!
 
deafdyke said:
AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's also an amazing experience for raised in the hearing world, dhh kids.
Click to expand...

Amen to that. I grew up a hearie and I went to MSD in Maryland. My sister taught me to sign. She was a teacher at MSD in Montgomery County, MD. I learned ASL and continue to sign as long as I have a
HOH or a deafie to sign to. Now I live in GA and there is nothing
but hearies everywhere. I did meet a hh hearie and he was losing his
hearing rapidly. I started teaching him ASL and he was doing good
till his death 3 months after I met him. I miss this day. So, I am here
to type with both hearies and deafies. I love the deaf community
and find it amazing.
 
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