Miss-Delectable
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Deaf student thrives in loud world - Features
Silence - a word that rarely describes the atmosphere of Chico State. But it's all a matter of who is asked.
When Chico gets rowdy and noisy, senior Tony Morin, a completely deaf English student on campus, is unable to hear even one drunken exclamation, he said. While this permanent quiet can have its advantages in such a loud town, Morin's college life is far from conventional.
In the majority of his classes, Morin requires two staff interpreters to accompany him and sign what the professor says, he said. He focuses mainly on the sign language, and can only glance up at the PowerPoint for a few seconds, but his attention needs to be kept on his interpreters.
"They have videos, but they're not captioned, and the interpreters have to work and sign for hours and hours," Morin said. "What is available for most hearing people is not available for me."
During class, it is part of the interpreters' jobs to sign continuously while recalling up to a minute's worth of information, Morin said. However, these scenes in front of the class sometimes appear to be more interesting for the students than listening to the professor.
"Every once in a while, I glance off and I see a few faces that are staring at me," said staff interpreter Cathy Carey. "I kind of feel this weird feeling inside. But most of the time I'm not paying attention to anyone in the class - it's just the job."
Some professors attempt to make their class environments more manageable because they realize he needs more accessibility, Morin said. Others continue the lectures in their classes even though it's apparent that Morin needs the extra help.
"I tried to slow down my speaking pace some, but that's usually a good thing for all students," said English professor Casey Huff. "The biggest challenge for me is that I tend to be a 'pacer' when I lecture, so I stroll from one side of the room to the other as I talk, and that made it harder for Tony to read lips.
So Huff tries to be more still than he often is, while still making eye contact with the entire class, he said.
In addition to schoolwork, Morin faces a different obstacle when he's outside of the classroom and in a social environment, he said. Morin does not go out as much as others do because it is hard for him to follow a conversation in a group setting.
"It just feels like I'm breaking up the whole group collective - the talking that they have," Morin said. "I don't want to feel like I'm a third wheel."
Still, meeting new people is not impossible for him, he said. Morin can read lips and can speak English effortlessly. The more interaction he has with a person, the better he is at understanding what someone is trying to communicate to him.
"I notice every small movement in the other person," Morin said. "You notice how they move their eyes, move their mouths and how they say certain words. It's all that put together that helps me determine what the other person is talking about."
Regardless, some people are hesitant to approach him do to "ignorance," he said.
"The hard part is trying to get around the soundless barrier," Morin said. "Most hearing people are apprehensive about going up to a deaf person and just trying to talk to them because they've never met one, or they just don't know much about the subject, or they hold some certain stereotype that we don't really have."
His family, on the other hand, knew exactly how to handle the situation, Morin said. He was born deaf due to his genetics - his father is also unable to hear, but his mother is hearing. Instead of viewing this as a hindrance, he was able to use this to his advantage.
In a collaborative effort, both parents successfully taught him American Sign Language as soon as they realized Morin was not responding to sound, Morin said.
Even though there are times when he wished that he could hear sounds, he is content with his lifestyle and considers himself to be normal, he said.
"All and all, I'm very happy with being deaf," Morin said. "I have a mute button on real life, and that suits me fine."
Silence - a word that rarely describes the atmosphere of Chico State. But it's all a matter of who is asked.
When Chico gets rowdy and noisy, senior Tony Morin, a completely deaf English student on campus, is unable to hear even one drunken exclamation, he said. While this permanent quiet can have its advantages in such a loud town, Morin's college life is far from conventional.
In the majority of his classes, Morin requires two staff interpreters to accompany him and sign what the professor says, he said. He focuses mainly on the sign language, and can only glance up at the PowerPoint for a few seconds, but his attention needs to be kept on his interpreters.
"They have videos, but they're not captioned, and the interpreters have to work and sign for hours and hours," Morin said. "What is available for most hearing people is not available for me."
During class, it is part of the interpreters' jobs to sign continuously while recalling up to a minute's worth of information, Morin said. However, these scenes in front of the class sometimes appear to be more interesting for the students than listening to the professor.
"Every once in a while, I glance off and I see a few faces that are staring at me," said staff interpreter Cathy Carey. "I kind of feel this weird feeling inside. But most of the time I'm not paying attention to anyone in the class - it's just the job."
Some professors attempt to make their class environments more manageable because they realize he needs more accessibility, Morin said. Others continue the lectures in their classes even though it's apparent that Morin needs the extra help.
"I tried to slow down my speaking pace some, but that's usually a good thing for all students," said English professor Casey Huff. "The biggest challenge for me is that I tend to be a 'pacer' when I lecture, so I stroll from one side of the room to the other as I talk, and that made it harder for Tony to read lips.
So Huff tries to be more still than he often is, while still making eye contact with the entire class, he said.
In addition to schoolwork, Morin faces a different obstacle when he's outside of the classroom and in a social environment, he said. Morin does not go out as much as others do because it is hard for him to follow a conversation in a group setting.
"It just feels like I'm breaking up the whole group collective - the talking that they have," Morin said. "I don't want to feel like I'm a third wheel."
Still, meeting new people is not impossible for him, he said. Morin can read lips and can speak English effortlessly. The more interaction he has with a person, the better he is at understanding what someone is trying to communicate to him.
"I notice every small movement in the other person," Morin said. "You notice how they move their eyes, move their mouths and how they say certain words. It's all that put together that helps me determine what the other person is talking about."
Regardless, some people are hesitant to approach him do to "ignorance," he said.
"The hard part is trying to get around the soundless barrier," Morin said. "Most hearing people are apprehensive about going up to a deaf person and just trying to talk to them because they've never met one, or they just don't know much about the subject, or they hold some certain stereotype that we don't really have."
His family, on the other hand, knew exactly how to handle the situation, Morin said. He was born deaf due to his genetics - his father is also unable to hear, but his mother is hearing. Instead of viewing this as a hindrance, he was able to use this to his advantage.
In a collaborative effort, both parents successfully taught him American Sign Language as soon as they realized Morin was not responding to sound, Morin said.
Even though there are times when he wished that he could hear sounds, he is content with his lifestyle and considers himself to be normal, he said.
"All and all, I'm very happy with being deaf," Morin said. "I have a mute button on real life, and that suits me fine."
