{"id":2189,"date":"2018-11-20T18:23:21","date_gmt":"2018-11-20T18:23:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/?p=2189"},"modified":"2025-02-06T17:07:14","modified_gmt":"2025-02-06T22:07:14","slug":"wilmu-a-sound-choice-for-the-hearing-impaired","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/2018\/11\/20\/wilmu-a-sound-choice-for-the-hearing-impaired\/","title":{"rendered":"WilmU: A Sound Choice For The Hearing Impaired"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.kadence-column2189_d97cb0-45 > .kt-inside-inner-col{padding-right:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-bottom:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-left:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);}.kadence-column2189_d97cb0-45 > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column2189_d97cb0-45 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column2189_d97cb0-45 > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column2189_d97cb0-45 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column2189_d97cb0-45 > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column2189_d97cb0-45 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column2189_d97cb0-45{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column2189_d97cb0-45 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 991px){.kadence-column2189_d97cb0-45 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column2189_d97cb0-45 dynamic-main-col\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\"><style>.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading2189_53b36f-57, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading2189_53b36f-57[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading2189_53b36f-57\"]{font-size:1.5rem;line-height:30px;font-weight:500;font-style:italic;font-family:proxima-nova;color:#808080;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading2189_53b36f-57 mark.kt-highlight, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading2189_53b36f-57[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading2189_53b36f-57\"] mark.kt-highlight{font-style:normal;color:#f76a0c;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading2189_53b36f-57 img.kb-inline-image, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading2189_53b36f-57[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading2189_53b36f-57\"] img.kb-inline-image{width:150px;vertical-align:baseline;}<\/style>\n<p class=\"kt-adv-heading2189_53b36f-57 wp-block-kadence-advancedheading\" data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading2189_53b36f-57\"><em>Aided by the University\u2019s Disability Services, these students are achieving success in the classroom.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The human ear is a fragile, complex organ, made up of tiny bones and membranes and hair cells. When something goes awry in that complicated mechanism and a human being loses the sense of hearing, it alters that person\u2019s world dramatically. Of the five senses, only sight is more critical to the quality of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Communication is the biggest challenge for the deaf. Estimates of the number of Americans who know American Sign Language (ASL) range from 500,000 to two million \u2014 less than one percent of the population. And lip-reading is minimally effective; it catches less than 30 percent of what a speaker says. So loss of hearing can be devastating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or, it can be just another of life\u2019s challenges to be met and overcome. That\u2019s the case with Wilmington University students Dawn Peer, Brittainy Payne and William \u201cBilly\u201d Malaspino, who, with an attitude that mixes determination with a bit of stubbornness, have refused to let their handicap define them. And in the classroom, they have received invaluable help from the University\u2019s Disability Services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft is-resized wp-image-6232\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.test.wilmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Hearing-Dawn-Peer-57.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6232\" style=\"width:350px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Dawn Peer<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Dawn Peer lost her hearing when she was a few months old due to an unknown cause, although it was suspected that her cochlear hair cells had disintegrated. She is the only member of her family who is deaf.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Her family moved from Long Island to Delaware in 1983 when she was 8 years old, and she was placed in the Margaret S. Sterck School for the Hearing Impaired in Newark (now the Delaware School for the Deaf).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI was an angry child and difficult child to my mother and step-father for a very long time,\u201d Peer admits. \u201cI didn\u2019t know how to deal with my emotions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At 14, she was mainstreamed to a vocational high school. Inspired by the television show \u201cChina Beach\u201d and Dana Delaney, the actress who played nurse Colleen McMurphy, she became interested in nursing. That is, she says, until a teacher pulled her aside one day and, after complimenting her on her ambition, told her she couldn\u2019t be a nurse because she was deaf. \u201cIt was one of the most malevolent comments, and something I\u2019ll never forget,\u201d says Peer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Depression set in, and the following year she was ready to drop out of school. But her mother, who had always been supportive, worked with her school advisor to have her daughter transferred to Christiana High School. Peer\u2019s grades jumped. English class proved especially challenging, but with the help of a tutor she met the school\u2019s standards and received her diploma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now 43, Peer has experienced some low points, but she has met each setback with resilience and determination, although she sometimes has paid the price for her pride. \u201cI don\u2019t ask for help,\u201d she says, \u201cand [when I was younger] I was very stubborn and did things on my own and I learned a lot from my mistakes along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, she has her first apartment and her first car, and she holds down two jobs. She is in her third year at Connections Community Support Programs, Inc., which&nbsp;provides an array of health care, housing, and employment opportunities. There she aids individuals in group and independent homes. At Jicha Communication, which offers client services that connect employers with prospective employees, she assists clients at their job sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Happily married for five years, Peer has three daughters from a previous relationship \u2014 12-year-old twins and a 9-year-old. She ended that 20-year relationship in 2012, but she has an amicable arrangement with the girls\u2019 father. \u201cMy girls are very fortunate to have three parents who are on same side and support them. We all are on same team,\u201d says Peer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of her proudest achieve-ments was enrolling in Wilmington University in 2015. Encouraged by her husband \u201cto go out and get my degree,\u201d she was steered to WilmU by Christy Hennessey, program coordinator for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services at Independent Resources Inc., a nonprofit that serves people with disabilities. \u201cChristy told me that Wilmington has a wonderful system for disabled students,\u201d Peer says.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She wasn\u2019t sure what major to choose but eventually, she says, \u201cI chose Psychology because of the field I work in. Once I attended the classes, I learned things about myself and my job aspirations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide wu-blockquote-row is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-ad2f72ca wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote wu-blockquote-simple is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;I want to work with disabled children who grew up in broken homes being told they can\u2019t do something because they can\u2019t hear. I want to encourage them to be successful in life regardless of their handicap.\u201d<\/p>\n<cite>\u2014 Dawn Peer<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright is-resized wp-image-6233\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.test.wilmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Hearing-Brittainy-Payne-51-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6233\" style=\"width:350px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Brittany Payne<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Unlike Dawn Peer, Brittainy Payne has trod a relatively smooth path through life, thanks in large part to her athletic ability, which has led to her calling \u2014 coaching. But above and beyond that is her positive attitude. \u201cI\u2019m proud to be deaf,\u201d she says. \u201cThat\u2019s who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now 31 years old, she was born without hearing, but was supported by her parents and two sisters, all of whom can hear. While her parents didn\u2019t learn ASL, they used \u201chome signing\u201d \u2014 personalized gestures to communicate with her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She was mainstreamed in her New Jersey district high school, where she had deaf friends, but she eventually enrolled at the New Jersey School for the Deaf in Trenton. There she played volleyball, soccer, softball and basketball, setting some records in the latter sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She moved on to Gallaudet University, the only higher education institution for deaf and hard of hearing students in the world. She played two years of softball and four years of basketball at the Washington, D.C., school and graduated in 2011 with a degree in Physical Education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Following a two-year stint as a dormitory supervisor and substitute teacher at the New Jersey School for the Deaf, Payne went to work for&nbsp;the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf in Philadelphia, where she teaches gym and coaches the girls basketball team.&nbsp;\u201cBasketball is my jam,\u201d she says with a smile. She takes great pride in her team\u2019s success. Last season, they lost in the finals of the league championship. \u201cWe\u2019ll be back this year,\u201d she says confidently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She enrolled in WilmU in 2016, and expects to receive her master\u2019s in Special Needs Education in December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve been very happy here,\u201d Payne says. \u201cI find the University is incredibly accepting of me, the teachers, counselors. I fit right in. I feel the University really understands the Americans With Disabilities Act [a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In praising the University\u2019s services for the deaf, she singles out the interpreters. \u201cThey have been the best,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Deaf students are required to notify Christyn Rudolf, manager of Disability Services, about their need for interpreters at least two weeks before the start of each semester. Students are assigned two interpreters per class. Each interpreter signs for 15\u201320 minutes, then the other takes over, which minimizes fatigue. For tutoring sessions, a single interpreter is assigned. The student is not charged for any of these services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft is-resized wp-image-6241\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.test.wilmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Hearing_Billy-Malaspino-32-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6241\" style=\"width:350px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Billy Malaspino<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Malaspino chose WilmU because of the convenient, flexible scheduling that has allowed him to take nighttime classes at both the Brandywine and New Castle campuses following his shifts at Pep Boys in Prices Corner, just outside Wilmington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Billy Malaspino also grew up in a supportive household with a brother, two sisters and a mother who knew sign language. But he\u2019s not as dependent on interpreters as Peer and Payne. Although born deaf, he received a cochlear implant 13 years ago when he was 26. The electronic implant provides a sense of sound to those with severe hearing loss. He can also read lips. As a result, he can carry on a spoken conversation, but he needs an interpreter in the classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Malaspino, who lives in Claymont, Delaware, with his 16-year-old daughter, enrolled in Wilmington University in 2014 with an eye toward changing occupations. He\u2019s been an automobile technician for 20 years, and the job has taken a toll on his body. So he\u2019s looking forward to getting his degree in Computer Network Security at fall commencement. Cyber security is a growing field and, as he explains, much less physically demanding than repairing cars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He chose WilmU because of the convenient, flexible scheduling that has allowed him to take nighttime classes at both the Brandywine and New Castle campuses following his shifts at Pep Boys in Prices Corner, just outside Wilmington. He says he\u2019s done well at WilmU, carrying a 3.5 GPA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like others in the deaf community \u2014 even those with college degrees \u2014 Malaspino faces some challenges. He\u2019s had a few job interviews, and he finds some potential employers hesitant to hire someone who\u2019s hearing-impaired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But, he adds, \u201cI\u2019m fortunate to have supportive parents.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As are Peer and Payne. And all three appreciate and value the positive response they\u2019ve received from the WilmU community. As Peer says, \u201cI feel fully accepted by other students and my professors. I\u2019m just like any other student to them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2014by Bob Yearick<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Aided by the University\u2019s Disability Services, these students are achieving success in the classroom. The human ear is a fragile, complex organ, made up of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2146,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[163,135],"tags":[652],"class_list":["post-2189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifewilmu","category-magazine","tag-magazine-fall-2018"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":163,"label":"LIFE@WILMU"},{"value":135,"label":"MAGAZINE"}],"post_tag":[{"value":652,"label":"Magazine Fall 2018"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Hearing-Dawn-Peer-57-405x480.jpg",405,480,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Eric Mumford","author_link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/author\/eric\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":163,"name":"LIFE@WILMU","slug":"lifewilmu","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":720,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":90,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":163,"category_count":90,"category_description":"","cat_name":"LIFE@WILMU","category_nicename":"lifewilmu","category_parent":0},{"term_id":135,"name":"MAGAZINE","slug":"magazine","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":692,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":431,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":135,"category_count":431,"category_description":"","cat_name":"MAGAZINE","category_nicename":"magazine","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":652,"name":"Magazine Fall 2018","slug":"magazine-fall-2018","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1209,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":20,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2189"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2189\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14780,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2189\/revisions\/14780"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}