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By Myrica Hawker
They were all deaf, and they all contributed to American culture, according to Mindy Bergeson of the USU Deaf Education Student Association. This fact is just one of many about the deaf community and culture that most hearing people are unaware of. As part of Deaf Awareness Week, Deaf Culture Jeopardy was held on Thursday night at the HPER as an opportunity for deaf students and members of the community to test their knowledge and share their culture with others at Utah State. "It is important for us to learn about every culture that is out there, no matter how big or small," said Justin Howell, a student who participated in the Jeopardy game.Deaf Awareness Week (DAW), Sept. 22-26 this year, was started by the National Association of the Deaf in 1988. "DAW seeks through special events and informational presentations to educate the wider public about deaf people, their beautiful language of American Sign Language (ASL), as well as their rich deaf history. DAW seeks to counteract the pathological view of deafness as a disability or medical condition and to provide a window into the vibrant world of deaf culture," Bergeson said.Utah State's Deaf Awareness Week is coordinated by the Deaf Education Student Association (DESA). Other activities this week included a Deaf Awareness Panel Discussion about dating and family relationships, as well as a showing of a captioned version of the movie What a Girl Wants. The purpose of the Deaf Culture Jeopardy game was to make people, especially
hearing people, understand what it means to be deaf, said Jennifer Horne,
co-moderator of the event and a teacher's assistant for sign language
About 40 people attended the game. There were five subject categories: American Disability Act (ADA), well-know people in deaf culture, signing savvy, deaf protocol and deaf technology. Deaf Technology for 300: How do deaf people know when the phone or doorbell is ringing? They have a box with a light that flashes. American Disability Act for 500: How did the enactment of public law
94-142 affect deaf students? Deaf children were mainstreamed into schools
with Deaf Protocol for 500: The moderators did a roleplay in which a deaf student was talking to her interpreter and a hearing student approached them. Instead of talking directly to the deaf student, the hearing student talked to the interpreter about the deaf student. What should the hearing student have done? She should have spoke directly to deaf student. "We are people, too. Don't talk with our interpreter, talk straight to us," said one deaf student. Utah State has between 50 and 60 deaf or hard-of-hearing students, Bergeson said. Students use sign language interpreters, TypeWell, FM systems, note takers or hearing aides. Typewell is a transcribing system in which both the hearing and the deaf student have notebook computers where the hearing student can record what is said in class using software for abbreviation, while the deaf student can instantaneously read what is happening, send questions to their transcriber and take notes, according to the TypeWell Web site. With FM systems, those who are hard-of-hearing wear receivers to amplify the voice of the speaker, who has a microphone and a transmitter, without amplifying other sounds in the room, according to the Assistive Listening Technology Loan Program. "A lot of times, it's like we [hearing people] pity the deaf people, but really they're independent," Horne said. Hearing people need to allow deaf people to be who they are, but also to make sure to include them, Horne said.
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