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Deaf students provided with resources - News
A hearing disability can throw a wrench into the typical listen and take notes routine of the classroom. Whether you rely on lip-reading or sign language, losing eye contact means losing communication.
Ernetta Fox, director of Disability Services, helps breach this barrier by supplying students with FM receivers, interpreters and other resources that will benefit hearing-impaired students.
Under Title II of the American Disability Act, the university is prohibited from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities in all programs, activities and services of public entities.
Eight hearing-impaired students have registered with disability services and can receive accommodations through their office.
Disclosing a disability to the university is optional, and Fox speculates many students choose not to register because they think they can be more independent in college.
By registering with Disability Services, students can discuss options that will make them more successful in class but are not obligated to accept any aid.
"I understand there are many reasons why some choose not to disclose their disability, but I would suggest that students not shortchange themselves. Coming to a university is about acquiring the best education you can, and as much as one can imagine it, they have a right to the information being presented," said Samuel Atcherson, assistant professor of Audiology.
Atcherson currently uses a power digital hearing aid and a multi-channel cochlear implant to compensate for his hearing loss. As an undergrad and graduate student from 1997 to 2005, he utilized campus Disability Services, but as a professor he accommodates his disability with his hearing aid technology and by setting classroom ground rules.
Aid is partially supplied by the state's Vocational Rehabilitation program. Students who apply to the program can receive funding for tutors, tuition and reimbursement to the university for interpreter costs.
Most hearing-impaired students come to campus with a system of accommodation they developed in high school. Fox works with students to ensure that necessary accommodations are available, but overall, the individual takes responsibility for getting what they need out of class.
"If we have a disability we have to make sure people are aware of it and work harder to accommodate ourselves," senior Liz Hoarty said.
Despite deafness in her right ear and a full-canal hearing aid in her left, Hoarty is a piano and organ performance major and the music coordinator at the Newman Center. She said she must stay attentive during lectures and doesn't shy away from asking for instructor comments to be repeated.
"The biggest barrier students with disabilities have is attitude," Fox said.
In the work force, people with hearing loss are responsible for requesting necessary accommodations. On campus, students and professors must be self-advocates to ensure equal access to materials and request interpreters or closed captioning in advance.
"I have not experienced any struggles as a professor with hearing loss. It's probably because I self-advocate and I teach what I am," Atcherson said.
Ceason Hunter, a full-time sign language interpreter, is available to students and visitors upon request and attends class three days a week with junior Eryn Kvernevig, who attended the South Dakota School for the Deaf in Sioux Falls before enrolling at USD.
Kvernevig's classes are back-to-back, so an interpreter from Sioux Falls relieves Hunter from interpreting for more than three successive hours.
Interpreters strive to capture the sarcasm and humor of instructors and have to be prepared for the high vocabulary used in 300- and 400-level classes. Being an interpreter for more than six years has helped, Hunter said, and she has learned to be prepared for anything.
"Criminal justice gets really detailed, really gory. Interpreting things that happen to little kids - I started crying in class," Hunter said.
Hunter also writes scripts of classroom videos that do not have closed captioning. Students with hearing impairments can only catch 50-60 percent of video content without text, Hunter said.
Hearing-impaired students receive more assistance under the ADA than they did before it was enacted in 1992, but recent technology allows them to communicate with family and friends while away at school.
Using D-link technology, students can use videophones housed at two locations on campus. The videophones eliminate the need for an interpreter and are one of the reasons Fox thinks more students with hearing-impairments are at the post-secondary level.
Kvernevig appreciates text-messaging language because it is similar to sign-language sentence structure, and she uses her T-Mobile Sidekick's full keyboard to message friends.
Being Internet and e-mail savvy also helps Kvernevig adjust to a community where few students sign. She hopes her interaction with students on campus will give them a stepping-stone for what to expect when they go to work.
"There's not really anything I can't do," Kvernevig said. "Sure I can miss something, but there's always some way I can counteract that."
A hearing disability can throw a wrench into the typical listen and take notes routine of the classroom. Whether you rely on lip-reading or sign language, losing eye contact means losing communication.
Ernetta Fox, director of Disability Services, helps breach this barrier by supplying students with FM receivers, interpreters and other resources that will benefit hearing-impaired students.
Under Title II of the American Disability Act, the university is prohibited from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities in all programs, activities and services of public entities.
Eight hearing-impaired students have registered with disability services and can receive accommodations through their office.
Disclosing a disability to the university is optional, and Fox speculates many students choose not to register because they think they can be more independent in college.
By registering with Disability Services, students can discuss options that will make them more successful in class but are not obligated to accept any aid.
"I understand there are many reasons why some choose not to disclose their disability, but I would suggest that students not shortchange themselves. Coming to a university is about acquiring the best education you can, and as much as one can imagine it, they have a right to the information being presented," said Samuel Atcherson, assistant professor of Audiology.
Atcherson currently uses a power digital hearing aid and a multi-channel cochlear implant to compensate for his hearing loss. As an undergrad and graduate student from 1997 to 2005, he utilized campus Disability Services, but as a professor he accommodates his disability with his hearing aid technology and by setting classroom ground rules.
Aid is partially supplied by the state's Vocational Rehabilitation program. Students who apply to the program can receive funding for tutors, tuition and reimbursement to the university for interpreter costs.
Most hearing-impaired students come to campus with a system of accommodation they developed in high school. Fox works with students to ensure that necessary accommodations are available, but overall, the individual takes responsibility for getting what they need out of class.
"If we have a disability we have to make sure people are aware of it and work harder to accommodate ourselves," senior Liz Hoarty said.
Despite deafness in her right ear and a full-canal hearing aid in her left, Hoarty is a piano and organ performance major and the music coordinator at the Newman Center. She said she must stay attentive during lectures and doesn't shy away from asking for instructor comments to be repeated.
"The biggest barrier students with disabilities have is attitude," Fox said.
In the work force, people with hearing loss are responsible for requesting necessary accommodations. On campus, students and professors must be self-advocates to ensure equal access to materials and request interpreters or closed captioning in advance.
"I have not experienced any struggles as a professor with hearing loss. It's probably because I self-advocate and I teach what I am," Atcherson said.
Ceason Hunter, a full-time sign language interpreter, is available to students and visitors upon request and attends class three days a week with junior Eryn Kvernevig, who attended the South Dakota School for the Deaf in Sioux Falls before enrolling at USD.
Kvernevig's classes are back-to-back, so an interpreter from Sioux Falls relieves Hunter from interpreting for more than three successive hours.
Interpreters strive to capture the sarcasm and humor of instructors and have to be prepared for the high vocabulary used in 300- and 400-level classes. Being an interpreter for more than six years has helped, Hunter said, and she has learned to be prepared for anything.
"Criminal justice gets really detailed, really gory. Interpreting things that happen to little kids - I started crying in class," Hunter said.
Hunter also writes scripts of classroom videos that do not have closed captioning. Students with hearing impairments can only catch 50-60 percent of video content without text, Hunter said.
Hearing-impaired students receive more assistance under the ADA than they did before it was enacted in 1992, but recent technology allows them to communicate with family and friends while away at school.
Using D-link technology, students can use videophones housed at two locations on campus. The videophones eliminate the need for an interpreter and are one of the reasons Fox thinks more students with hearing-impairments are at the post-secondary level.
Kvernevig appreciates text-messaging language because it is similar to sign-language sentence structure, and she uses her T-Mobile Sidekick's full keyboard to message friends.
Being Internet and e-mail savvy also helps Kvernevig adjust to a community where few students sign. She hopes her interaction with students on campus will give them a stepping-stone for what to expect when they go to work.
"There's not really anything I can't do," Kvernevig said. "Sure I can miss something, but there's always some way I can counteract that."