Show Challenges encountered by the hard of hearing W m i I s T 1 k kr r r- r T t r di 0 rOll 1 4 i i t t o. o 7 f i Il t i 5 I Vicki McPhail communicates with Terry Birch who is hard of hearing with the help of Com Vicki McPhail Staff Writer Making the high school honor roll and lettering in swimming may seem like ordinary ordinary ordinary or or- achievements to most people but not to Terry Birch who is almost deaf At birth Terry was heal heal- thy But by age three he had suffered a substantial hearing loss after receiving Streptomycin Streptomycin Streptomycin Strep Strep- to treat an infection Like many others who are deaf or hard of hearing they prefer the term hard of hearing hearing hearing hear hear- ing to hearing impaired which implies a person is damaged Birch works even harder to get by than most people Vo Belnap who voluntarily ly coordinates services for the deaf at said that the deaf are a positive group She stated that the biggest misconception misconception misconception mis mis- conception hearing people have about the deaf is that they are stupid But given the opportunity to hear by reading lips or signing they can understand just as much muchas as the hearing person Unfortunately Belnap added Utah's lack of funding to train and pay sign language language language lan lan- guage interpreters has limited the deaf in getting an tion and gaining skills and jobs Belnap feels there is nothing nothing nothing noth noth- ing more isolating than for deaf children to be mainstreamed mainstream ed where everyone else can hear She feels that the deaf need their own schools She said The hearing world does not provide the deaf with those opportunities I think we owe them equal access to tion The deaf community is divided when it comes to the use of communication skills Some prefer sign only others prefer oral communication lip reading and speech while still others prefer a combination of skills According to Karen Page a time part-time interpreter at total communication using speech to communicate cate with the hearing and sign language to comm communicate uni- uni cate with the deaf is ideal But not all deaf people are able to learn speech Page the hearing daughter of a deaf mother and nearly deaf father could sign American Sign Language Language Language Lan Lan- guage before she could talk She said that translation problems of are similar to those of other foreign lan lan- According to Page one of the biggest challenges for the deaf is learning to read and write English grammatically She attributes this to the fact that insignificant words such as in the and etc are not used in sign language andare and andare andare are hard for the deaf Birch on the other hand feels that signing puts a barrier barrier barrier bar bar- rier between the deaf and the hearing He belongs to the Alexander Graham Bell Asso Association Association As As- so which favors oral communication Alexander Graham Bell whose mother suffered from froma a hearing loss tried to invent a device to help the hard of hearing but ended up with the telephone instead But oral communication has its limitations too Many hearing people dont don't realize the obstacles they present to lip readers Untrimmed facial hair and looking away while speaking are among the most common problems Too little lip movement as well as exaggerated exaggerated exaggerated ex ex- lip movements can also confuse an tion The Utah Asso Association forthe forthe for forthe the Deaf promotes signing Some of its members note that signing is an advantage when it comes to large public meetings Speakers might be too far away from the deaf for lip reading so sign language language language lan lan- guage interpreters can successfully successfully successfully suc suc- translate for the deaf without interrupting the speaker One thing many deaf and hard of hearing students agree on is that the Utah State Office of Rehabilitation REHAB is not doing enough to help them Some allege that REHAB underestimates underestimates underestimates their abilities and discourages some of their am am- Gene Stewart acting administrator administrator administrator ad ad- for the Division of Services for th the Deaf and Hard of Hearing said that a alot alot alot lot of the complaints about REHAB are justified but also that not enough credit is given to REHAB by the deaf Stewart who grew up in a deaf family as the only hearing hearing hearing hear hear- ing member said that about six months ago REHAB called an open meeting for the deaf to air their feelings This resulted in the dismissal of one REHAB administrator whom the deaf felt was not properly involving them in indecision indecision indecision decision making According to Stewart REHAB is the only government government government govern govern- ment agency that helps the deaf Because of that everything everything everything every every- thing focuses on us The state legislature last month appropriated 3 million million million mil mil- lion for planning a new deaf center in Salt Lake County similar to the center in Bountiful that provides independent independent independent inde inde- pendent living skills counseling counseling counseling counsel counsel- ing However the legislation failed to award an a additional REHAB had sought for interpreters Stewart stated that he regularly attends board meetings meetings meetings meet meet- ings of the Utah Association for the Deaf to keep an open channel of communication between the deaf and REHAB He said I will definitely fight for them the deaf to have a say in things like the new deaf center Stewart stated that REHAB purchases hearing aids and bus passes for the qualifying deaf as well as providing counseling and tuition money Meanwhile technological advances continue to improve improve improve im im- prove the quality of life forthe for forthe forthe the deaf and hard of hearing Page whose deaf mother was never before interested in television is now hooked thanks to close-caption close programming Page says a available for less than connects to regular television set and projects subtitles onto the bottom of the screen Tel Telephone phone communication tion is possible for the deaf thanks to the IDD A IDD is isa isa isa a device that connects to a telephone which allows messages messages messages mes mes- sages to be typed in The Utah Relay a central receiving receiving receiving ing center helps dispatch messages to destinations not possessing a IDD Birch enjoys hearing class lectures with th the help of Tek Com-Tek battery battery battery bat bat- a two-piece two tery operated device The receiver portion is given to the instructor who attaches the microphone to his or her lapel The amplifier portion attaches to Birch's hearing aid enabling him to hear what is being said even if the instructor turns around to write on the chalkboard Birch learned to be a fighter as a child He says his mother who also has a hearing hearing hearing hear hear- ing loss always encourages him to achieve After serving an mission mission mission mis mis- sion to Iowa Birch enrolled at He now maintains a 32 grade point average He plans to go on to the University University University sity of Utah in the fall to pursue pursue pursue pur pur- sue a Bachelors Bachelor's Degree in public relations His advice to others is to never give up |