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http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/state/051104collegefair.shtml
"Will my roommate be deaf?" "Will there be someone to help me take notes during lectures?" "Is there a support group for students who are deaf or hard of hearing?"
Those aren't the usual questions posed at most college fairs, but the answers were of keen interest to a group of about 30 high school students who gathered at the University of Southern Maine on Thursday.
That's because the event at the Glickman Family Library in Portland was Maine's first statewide college fair for students who are deaf or hard of hearing.
The event was designed to bring together students from around the state who typically have no one like themselves in their mainstream schools. At the fair, they were able to explore college options with other students who have the same concerns.
"That's really valuable," said Clayton Marr III, 16, a junior at Portland High School who attended the fair. Marr, who is deaf, said it was useful having other students ask college recruiters questions he hadn't thought to ask.
The recruiters fielded plenty of typical college-fair questions, such as "What sports teams do you have?" and "How much is tuition?"
But they also addressed concerns such as what social life is like for deaf and hard-of-hearing students at their institutions, and what kind of interpreting and note-taking help is available.
The fair was put on by the Maine Educational Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, which includes the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf on Mackworth Island in Falmouth and the statewide outreach program, which serves about 600 deaf and hard-of-hearing students in their hometowns. Jim Gemmell, communications director for the center, said the plan is for the fair to become an annual event.
Organizers said the things that hearing-impaired students want to know include whether a college provides extra help with English - a second language for those whose native language is American Sign Language.
Josh Seal, 18, is the only deaf student attending Bonny Eagle High School in Standish. He said that knowing whether a college makes quality note-takers available is important to him.
It is difficult to follow an interpreter, explaining in ASL what a professor is saying, and take notes at the same time, so some students with hearing impairments need someone to take notes for them.
In the past, said Larry Taub, superintendent of the center, students with hearing disabilities were not able to take advantage of post-secondary education.
Changes in societal attitudes and new technologies to assist the deaf have made attending college a reality for many more students. "It's very vital that students all over the state of Maine who are deaf and hard of hearing know what options are out there in the world for them," Taub said.
Angela Bruno, the public school outreach coordinator for deaf and hard-of-hearing students around the state, said that with only one or two such students mainstreamed in a particular school, many guidance counselors don't know enough about their issues to advise them in choosing a college.
The fair included presentations by representatives from a variety of schools, including Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., the nation's only liberal arts college for the deaf and hard of hearing; the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, part of the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York; and the Maine Community College System and the University of Maine System.
Seal, who is president of his class and is considering attending Northeastern University or the Rochester Institute of Technology to study architecture or graphic arts, said the fair gave him useful information.
"It's a really good opportunity for deaf students who are in the mainstream who are trying to learn what's out there for them," he said.
"Will my roommate be deaf?" "Will there be someone to help me take notes during lectures?" "Is there a support group for students who are deaf or hard of hearing?"
Those aren't the usual questions posed at most college fairs, but the answers were of keen interest to a group of about 30 high school students who gathered at the University of Southern Maine on Thursday.
That's because the event at the Glickman Family Library in Portland was Maine's first statewide college fair for students who are deaf or hard of hearing.
The event was designed to bring together students from around the state who typically have no one like themselves in their mainstream schools. At the fair, they were able to explore college options with other students who have the same concerns.
"That's really valuable," said Clayton Marr III, 16, a junior at Portland High School who attended the fair. Marr, who is deaf, said it was useful having other students ask college recruiters questions he hadn't thought to ask.
The recruiters fielded plenty of typical college-fair questions, such as "What sports teams do you have?" and "How much is tuition?"
But they also addressed concerns such as what social life is like for deaf and hard-of-hearing students at their institutions, and what kind of interpreting and note-taking help is available.
The fair was put on by the Maine Educational Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, which includes the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf on Mackworth Island in Falmouth and the statewide outreach program, which serves about 600 deaf and hard-of-hearing students in their hometowns. Jim Gemmell, communications director for the center, said the plan is for the fair to become an annual event.
Organizers said the things that hearing-impaired students want to know include whether a college provides extra help with English - a second language for those whose native language is American Sign Language.
Josh Seal, 18, is the only deaf student attending Bonny Eagle High School in Standish. He said that knowing whether a college makes quality note-takers available is important to him.
It is difficult to follow an interpreter, explaining in ASL what a professor is saying, and take notes at the same time, so some students with hearing impairments need someone to take notes for them.
In the past, said Larry Taub, superintendent of the center, students with hearing disabilities were not able to take advantage of post-secondary education.
Changes in societal attitudes and new technologies to assist the deaf have made attending college a reality for many more students. "It's very vital that students all over the state of Maine who are deaf and hard of hearing know what options are out there in the world for them," Taub said.
Angela Bruno, the public school outreach coordinator for deaf and hard-of-hearing students around the state, said that with only one or two such students mainstreamed in a particular school, many guidance counselors don't know enough about their issues to advise them in choosing a college.
The fair included presentations by representatives from a variety of schools, including Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., the nation's only liberal arts college for the deaf and hard of hearing; the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, part of the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York; and the Maine Community College System and the University of Maine System.
Seal, who is president of his class and is considering attending Northeastern University or the Rochester Institute of Technology to study architecture or graphic arts, said the fair gave him useful information.
"It's a really good opportunity for deaf students who are in the mainstream who are trying to learn what's out there for them," he said.