Hearie looking for advice, oh and Hi everybody!

[NobleWolf]

Hello everybody!

So, as my title implies I'm looking for a bit of advice, but first you need a quick background. I'm a hearing student at my university and am learning ASL via Dr. Vicars on lifeprint.com. I have been doing the lessons on and off for a while. I was told there is a student who is hoh (or mostly deaf, I haven't meet him yet) coming next year as a freshman and I am also going to be a mentor for the incoming freshman. The Disabilities and Student Support Department got in contact with me to ask if I'd be interested in working with this student. I will have all the lessons finished by the start of next school year. Other info: there is one other deaf student on campus, one of the campus ministers I know has some ASL skills, and that is about it with the ASL skills. The plan is for him to be in my Opening Week (week long orientation and team building for freshmen before classes) mentor group. Now that you have the background here's my questions.

Does anyone have any advice on anything? I tried to say hello to the deaf guy currently on campus, but I was really nervous and forgot a couple words.
How should I work with the incoming student?
The incoming guy will have a CC device or skype interpreter for the classes, but the rest of the week when we are doing team building activities there won't be an interpreter. We are a 'rural' university and the nearest certified terp is 2+ hour drive away. If he is hoh and has hearing aids the plan is just for me to 'fill in the gaps', but if he is fully deaf I'm nervous I won't be adequate for him. I think he comes from a mainstream background so our university won't be a new situation communication wise.
I have plans to practice signing with a proficient ASL student over the summer.
Any advice or words of wisdom/experience are greatly appreciated.

 

[Mewtilation]

Well if he is mainstream he shouldn't have too big of an issue communicating with you. He's probably pretty proficient in lipreading and from what you said and probably has H.A.'s or a C.I. possibly. ( Not definite, but if he's attending your school which is not a Deaf school, I'm sure he's able to communicate with the hearing population just as most of us Deaf are with or without H.A.'s or C.I.'s. ) Even if I am not wearing my C.I. I am still able to communicate with hearies just fine most of the time... as long as they enunciate... ( which seems to be a bit of an issue in Florida... ) ANYWAY!

In all honesty even though I was raised with the use of ASL I was mainstreamed for the most part. ( Voc therapy religiously and all that jazz ) Anyone who was willing to attempt to communicate with me using ASL was a "breath of fresh air" if you will. I appreciated it. I sincerely doubt he's coming to that school ( which is not a school for the Deaf ) expecting people to know ASL left and right and having the ability to communicate with him in it. So, someone who is attempting I doubt he is going to be mad or get frustrated with for messing up. Just try your best and I'm sure you're going to pick up things from him as well. Don't be so nervous, as I said I'm sure he's coming well prepared and is ready to tackle what lies ahead of him. We're used to having to adapt to such situations. It's nice that you've gone and done this to help him though, and I'm sure he'll appreciate it.. just don't be nervous, there's nothing to be nervous about. He's just like you... he just can't hear... just remember that. Good luck.

 

[NobleWolf]

Thank you for the advice and reassurance. I've read quite a bit online, but seeing it from someone is better.
I'll try and keep that all in mind.

 

[Bebonang]

Well if he is mainstream he shouldn't have too big of an issue communicating with you. He's probably pretty proficient in lipreading and from what you said and probably has H.A.'s or a C.I. possibly. ( Not definite, but if he's attending your school which is not a Deaf school, I'm sure he's able to communicate with the hearing population just as most of us Deaf are with or without H.A.'s or C.I.'s. ) Even if I am not wearing my C.I. I am still able to communicate with hearies just fine most of the time... as long as they enunciate... ( which seems to be a bit of an issue in Florida... ) ANYWAY!

In all honesty even though I was raised with the use of ASL I was mainstreamed for the most part. ( Voc therapy religiously and all that jazz ) Anyone who was willing to attempt to communicate with me using ASL was a "breath of fresh air" if you will. I appreciated it. I sincerely doubt he's coming to that school ( which is not a school for the Deaf ) expecting people to know ASL left and right and having the ability to communicate with him in it. So, someone who is attempting I doubt he is going to be mad or get frustrated with for messing up. Just try your best and I'm sure you're going to pick up things from him as well. Don't be so nervous, as I said I'm sure he's coming well prepared and is ready to tackle what lies ahead of him. We're used to having to adapt to such situations. It's nice that you've gone and done this to help him though, and I'm sure he'll appreciate it.. just don't be nervous, there's nothing to be nervous about. He's just like you... he just can't hear... just remember that. Good luck.

Just want to add to your quotes.

It is wise for NobleWolf to just use paper and pen if he has trouble trying to make communication between them. Signing is good but you can use fingerspell, too, to get across to the student. There are two things you can do so much to make the communication go well and not get nervous.