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A visit to Deaf Town, U.S.A.
By BABITA PERSAUD, Times Staff Writer TAMPA -- Joshua Schaefer was walking through the Hillsborough Community College campus Thursday morning when he got an unusual offer. "Want to find out what it's like to be deaf?" asked a young woman in HCC's courtyard. "Sure," said Schaefer, 17, who pushed lime-green plugs into his ears before walking into Deaf Town U.S.A. -- a series of folding tables marked with signs that read: bank, college admissions office and medical center. Schaefer's task: Go to the bank and correct an error on his statement. It took longer than expected. The town was set up by students in the American Sign Language program at HCC to highlight National Deaf Awareness week. Dozens stopped by. They learned about patience, that communication is often taken for granted by the hearing and that living without sound "can be frustrating," said Victoria Bennett, 17, who was making the rounds. The students picked up new words. Schaefer pushed four fingers away from his lips. "Thank you," he mouthed. Some managing the town know the deaf experience well. Beth-Ann Champion, 23, was born hard of hearing. Behind her long brown curls, Champion wears a hearing aid. She doesn't always tell professors about her disability. "Mostly, I like to be an average student," she said. If the professor speaks softly, she might request an FM System. The instructor would wear a microphone picked up by a headphone set Champion carries like a purse. In lecture classes -- such as Communication Disorder, which she is taking now -- she might request a note taker. "So I can focus on the teacher and what's going on," Champion said. There were some light moments in Deaf Town Thursday. While sitting under a palm tree, Professor Mike Ernest, who started HCC's American Sign Language program in 1986, led a circle of students signing The Gambler by Kenny Rogers. The Deaf Awareness program at HCC includes an art exhibit by students at Gallaudet University, an all-deaf college in Washington, D.C. Tonight, Peter Cook, an internationally known deaf storyteller and poet, will perform in the HCC auditorium from 7 to 9 p.m. The show is for the hearing and the deaf. Cook, of Chicago, uses grand gestures and facial expressions to tell stories both serious and humorous.
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From the Times North of Tampa Marlene Sokol City Times - South Tampa |
