Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 1987)
Get a Medium 14” 1 Item I 5.25 PLUS ONE 32-oz. PEPSI NAME ADDRESS, 687-8600 • 1432 Orchard ONE COUPON PER PIZZA • Expires 10/21/87 I) I SCOVKR I ND I A OOd I nmi i Arlworka D I a p I a y • Diacili a a d Cm I u«t I* a i a d e oo Oct 25, 5:30-8:30pm EMU Ba11 room Students: *4.50 General : *5.00 Tickets at EMU Main Desk Sponsored by India Student Association Foreign Students Organization Deaf students overcome problems By Tami Gower Emerald Contributor Before she enrolled in classes al the University, Rebecca DeUire — who is partially deaf in both ears — spent a year at Central Oregon Community College in Bend because of its "close-knit and personal" atmosphere DeLore said that by first atten ding the smaller college, she was better able to ease into the larger university scene. She graduated from the University last spring with a degree in psychology Still, she discovered barriers here that were tough to overcome, such as communicating with students who hear perfectly fine. She also worked twice as hard to learn what was being taught. "I spent a lot of time outside of class researching, because I could not hear all the informa tion presented in lectures." she said. Although the University of fers a note-taking service for students with hearing loss. DeLore said she didn't trust its reliability and instead relied heavily on her roommates to help her take notes. Even given an ideal learning environment, she estimates she can only hear and understand about 40 percent of a lecture. She added that she feared her professors would think she wasn’t trying if she didn't at tend class. Still. Delore often thought that attending was a waste of time, she said Current University student Richard Bear, an English major who has nerve deafness, said he spends a lot of extra time reviewing his notes to make sure he heard everything in class. "I transcribe all my notes on to a computer and do a lot of filling in." he said. "Attending ...YOUR "MARK" OF REAL VALUEI CLIP THIS COUPON r i i i PARKAY MARGARINE 1 ft. « cube* tel 4 with coupon 1 II I I 4/9yeBaflBB 6000 VALUE FROZEN VEGETABLES Com-Paas-Mixed » u 38.1. R.C. COLA Prices good through October 27,1987 4^C2£fi©8aS3 .. your "mark" of raai valua! FOOD CENTERS Wl MAM SAVING SIMNLS! MMMNN ton ootrr NAN TO MAM VOUO own MMCCI AMY mom*! lectures is extremely physically exhausting because a hearing impaired student spends so much energy concentrating on just hearing what is being said." Both Bear and Del,ore said professors who use visual aids, such as a lecture outline placed on an overhead projector, help the hearing-impaired student. Although most of her pro fessors were cooperative upon learning about her hearing loss. DeLore said she became frustrated because little of what they did seemed to increase her ability to hear. “I could have been more assertive in my studies, but didn't perceive myself as belonging at the University,” Del.ore said. However, higher education for the hearing-impaired in the United States is limited. Because these institutions ac cept only the most severely hearing-impaired students, DeLore had to enter mainstream higher education in order to earn a degree. There are no support groups specifically for the hearing im paired at the University. In order to fill a social void, yet prevent being placed in a disabled category. DeLore join ed the Club Sports crew team. The University provides several learning tools for the hearing-impaired. In addition to the note-taking service, sign language interpreters are available to attend class with the students. Another alternative, the "FM system," directly links via microphone hookup the student and professor. Hearing impaired students listen through the FM receiver, which is set to the same frequency as their hearing aids. The pro fessor uses the FM transmitter. This personalized system decreases the amount of background noise that normally distracts hearing-impaired students. DeLore said she appreciated the services provided by the University but thought they could be better publicized. "Perhaps if it were known that there were accommoda tions at the Univesity. it would attract more hearing-impaired students. Professional people should also come in to give workshops and be on staff to give information to professors and the general population about the hearing-impaired." she said. Bear said he thought the Cam pus Information Exchange, a computer communication net work on campus, could be ex panded to offer another poten tial outlet for the hearing impaired simply because the in formation is exchanged visually. Bear characterized the University as a microcosm of a larger, relatively uncaring microcosm with a corporate rather than family feeling. To compensate. Bear works in the University Library as a manuscript processor in special collections — the ideal job. he said. “1 don’t have to answer phones or have much contact with the general public, and 1 work with a small number of people," he said. Some departments at the University, Bear continued, are not structured advantageously for the hearing-impaired, such as language courses that are taught orally. Professors m<*y want to help reach the hearing-impaired, but don't know what to do because the department provides no such guidelines, he said. This term, the speech pathology-audiology depart ment is offering American Sign language I. II and III. However, the College of Arts and Sciences does not recognize sign language as a foreign language. It is considered another form of English, even though those with severe hearing loss are unable to understand spoken English. According to Hilary Gerdes. counselor for the pre-nursing program and the disabled, only three hearing-impaired students currently use the services of the University's Office of Academic Advising and Student Affairs, making the hearing-impaired the smallest group of disabled students on campus. She said in the past a pam phlet about the hearing impaired was printed by the University and distributed among the faculty. But pro fessurs may not have examined the information as closely as they could have, she added Personal contact with the hearing-impaired will educate the campus community about the problems hearing-impaired students have, according to Gay Carpenter, a professor in the Leisure Studies and Services department "As professors and students see more people with hearing disabilities, they will feel more comfortable dealing with this disability and will learn to ad just to it through exposure to it." Carpenter said. Carpenter, who taught a hearing-impaired student last year, said other students in the class had more adjustments to make than she did as professor. "But. 1 think the students learned a lot from the ex perience as well." she said. university SUNNY SERVICE Foreign & Domestic Cars Specializing in Volvo and Volkswagen • Major & Minor Repairs • ASE Certified Technicians 1905 Agate St. • 344 0869 Jusi a teat blocks from campus on the corner of Agate and 19th
