Miss-Delectable
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University fair reaches out to the deaf and hard of hearing - News
Fingers flew in friendly conversation as members of the deaf community gathered Tuesday for the first annual Accommodations Fair for the deaf and hard of hearing.
The fair, held in Barnes Plaza in front of Getchell Library, gave hundreds of University of Nevada, Reno students and members of the community a chance to learn about the services offered to disabled student at the university level.
Mary Anne Christensen, assistant director of the Disability Resource Center, said the fair was a great way to spread community awareness.
"Over the last few years there has been a huge increase in the number of disabled students who attend and graduate from college," Christensen said. "Much of that increase is due to the access that these services provide. We want to make sure everyone knows what is available to them."
Organizations such as the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Advocacy Resource Center, TypeWell Transcription, Sprint Video Relay Service and the Nevada Disability, Advocacy and Law Center gave demonstrations on various equipment and informed students of their rights.
Services included Sprint's Captel video phone, which allows a person to sign through video capture phone, the TypeWell speech-to-text translator, and information on how to sign up for an interpreter.
Ali Taylor, a 25-year-old deaf English major, said that awareness has been the key to her educational experience.
"I have an interpreter and a CART (Communication Access Real Time Translation) captioning machine that help me with my studies," she said. "But this type of awareness is also important in teaching students and teachers about how to interact with each other."
Chris Cheney, the department chair for educational specialties, said she brought her students to the fair to help prepare them for the special education field.
"It can be very overwhelming for students majoring in special education because it encompasses so much," she said. "It is important for them to know that this new technology makes the disability transparent. You can teach as you normally would and still accommodate all of your students."
Misty Brussatoi, 33, is one of Cheney's students, majoring in special education and elementary education. She said she was unaware of most of the services available.
"This was very informative," she said. "I still have a lot to learn but it's really nice to know that I will have so many avenues available to help students."
Taylor said that it is just as important for students to communicate with each other as to talk to instructors.
"When you come to something like (this) and see so many other people like you it makes you feel supported," she said.
Students didn't just take advice from teachers and professionals. They offered it as well.
Wendy Miley, TypeWell transcriber for the Disability Resource Center, said she enjoyed meeting with students.
"When we all get together like this it allows us to share new ideas," she said. "Students, teachers and people in the community who just take an interest all become more aware. We all learn something. It's really a win-win for everyone involved."
Fingers flew in friendly conversation as members of the deaf community gathered Tuesday for the first annual Accommodations Fair for the deaf and hard of hearing.
The fair, held in Barnes Plaza in front of Getchell Library, gave hundreds of University of Nevada, Reno students and members of the community a chance to learn about the services offered to disabled student at the university level.
Mary Anne Christensen, assistant director of the Disability Resource Center, said the fair was a great way to spread community awareness.
"Over the last few years there has been a huge increase in the number of disabled students who attend and graduate from college," Christensen said. "Much of that increase is due to the access that these services provide. We want to make sure everyone knows what is available to them."
Organizations such as the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Advocacy Resource Center, TypeWell Transcription, Sprint Video Relay Service and the Nevada Disability, Advocacy and Law Center gave demonstrations on various equipment and informed students of their rights.
Services included Sprint's Captel video phone, which allows a person to sign through video capture phone, the TypeWell speech-to-text translator, and information on how to sign up for an interpreter.
Ali Taylor, a 25-year-old deaf English major, said that awareness has been the key to her educational experience.
"I have an interpreter and a CART (Communication Access Real Time Translation) captioning machine that help me with my studies," she said. "But this type of awareness is also important in teaching students and teachers about how to interact with each other."
Chris Cheney, the department chair for educational specialties, said she brought her students to the fair to help prepare them for the special education field.
"It can be very overwhelming for students majoring in special education because it encompasses so much," she said. "It is important for them to know that this new technology makes the disability transparent. You can teach as you normally would and still accommodate all of your students."
Misty Brussatoi, 33, is one of Cheney's students, majoring in special education and elementary education. She said she was unaware of most of the services available.
"This was very informative," she said. "I still have a lot to learn but it's really nice to know that I will have so many avenues available to help students."
Taylor said that it is just as important for students to communicate with each other as to talk to instructors.
"When you come to something like (this) and see so many other people like you it makes you feel supported," she said.
Students didn't just take advice from teachers and professionals. They offered it as well.
Wendy Miley, TypeWell transcriber for the Disability Resource Center, said she enjoyed meeting with students.
"When we all get together like this it allows us to share new ideas," she said. "Students, teachers and people in the community who just take an interest all become more aware. We all learn something. It's really a win-win for everyone involved."