Hearing Impairment Creates Disadvantage For Arkansas Tech Student
By: Jocelyn Tovar, KARK 4 NEWS
Updated: September 14, 2012
An Arkansas Tech University student is having a little trouble with one of her classes.
Cheyenne Terry, who was born without hair follicles in her ears, is almost entirely deaf. She gets by with reading lips and using a hearing aid. She says the university had been very accommodating to her needs up until she began an online Spanish class..
As an English education major, Terry wants to become an English teacher.
"I have to take this Spanish language requirement and because of my hearing, or the lack of it I should say, I had some questions about whether I could do the listening portion," Terry said. "If I was to take the course on campus I would have to drive to Russellville and back four days a week."
As a single mother to an eight-year-old being able to take the course from home appealed to Terry until she noticed large portions of the course and tests weren't captioned and she couldn't hear them.
"I was actually putting 'I'm deaf' in the answer fields thinking she might get the hint," said Terry.
She said she was already familiar with the on-campus resources for students with disabilities because of her other courses, but said they didn't help her with her issue and she became frustrated.
"I just need access to the education I'm getting," Terry said. "I'm going to work as hard as anyone else."
Originally wanting to make the Dean's list Terry is concerned this issue of miscommunication might have lasting negative impact on her GPA.
Student service officials with the university told KARK they didn't know about the issue and would be contacting Terry.
They called during our interview, but another example of this miscommunication Terry couldn't answer because she's unable to have traditional phone conversations.
Cheyenne Terry, who was born without hair follicles in her ears, is almost entirely deaf. She gets by with reading lips and using a hearing aid. She says the university had been very accommodating to her needs up until she began an online Spanish class..
As an English education major, Terry wants to become an English teacher.
"I have to take this Spanish language requirement and because of my hearing, or the lack of it I should say, I had some questions about whether I could do the listening portion," Terry said. "If I was to take the course on campus I would have to drive to Russellville and back four days a week."
As a single mother to an eight-year-old being able to take the course from home appealed to Terry until she noticed large portions of the course and tests weren't captioned and she couldn't hear them.
"I was actually putting 'I'm deaf' in the answer fields thinking she might get the hint," said Terry.
She said she was already familiar with the on-campus resources for students with disabilities because of her other courses, but said they didn't help her with her issue and she became frustrated.
"I just need access to the education I'm getting," Terry said. "I'm going to work as hard as anyone else."
Originally wanting to make the Dean's list Terry is concerned this issue of miscommunication might have lasting negative impact on her GPA.
Student service officials with the university told KARK they didn't know about the issue and would be contacting Terry.
They called during our interview, but another example of this miscommunication Terry couldn't answer because she's unable to have traditional phone conversations.
