Process of Adjustment and Adaptation of Deaf/Blind College Students

Process of Adjustment and Adaptation of Deaf/Blind College Students Katrina Arndt St. John Fisher College karndt@sjfc.edu 385-7215

Study Background • Numbers of college students who are d/Deaf and visually impaired or blind are hard to measure • …but numbers are increasing (DBLink) • Research about this group of students is limited • Research from the perspective of the student is even more limited

My background • Special education teacher • Sign language interpreter training • Intervenor • Syracuse University • qualitative research methods

Study Overview • Study approved by IRB • Student population at a small college in the Northeast • Interviews with students who are audiologically deaf and have a visual impairment about their experiences • 11 students, 1-4 interviews with each student • 10 students with Usher Syndrome, 1 student with cortical deafness and blindness

Study Overview • Split screen recording used for all interviews • Interviews in the language and mode of student preference • All interviews were transcribed from spoken English, signed English, ASL, or a combination into written English

Split screen

Study Overview • Inductive analysis led to three themes • Negotiating institutions • Negotiating social relationships • Negotiating identity

Today’s discussion • Adjustment and adaptation to visual impairment • Effects of vision loss on social opportunity • Effects of vision loss on academic opportunity

Adjustment and adaptation to vision loss: findings • Time since diagnosis was significant • Students who had known about their visual impairment for some time were focused less on coping than students who had just learned of it • Vision loss affected student goals • Some students felt a responsibility to be good role models and advocates • Some students took leaves of absence, changed majors, or withdrew from school

Example • “I was a teenager, I realized what it meant because I started to miss things when people were telling me things. My vision was changing, and I was missing things. I denied it [having Usher Syndrome] to myself, until I was 16 or 17 years old. Then, it got really bad. They sent me to a counselor, but I didn’t want to go. I didn’t want help.” – Micki* * All names are pseudonyms

Example • “I’m not speaking about myself in general. It’s about all deafblind college students. Not just Sunnyside College. San Francisco, all over.” -Hurcane

Implications for practice • Provide assistance in accessing supports from • ABVI, Commission for the Deaf, Commission for the Blind, local eye doctors • Provide flexibility in time to degree completion • Gather, maintain, and disseminate information about deaf-blindness • Support a “philosophy of respect” (Smith, 2002)

Effects of vision loss on social opportunity: findings • Barriers to social opportunity included few people willing to initiate conversation and a lack of accessible activities • Membership in the Deaf community was highly problematic • Management strategies included managing a hidden identity or finding an affiliation group

“People who sign from a distance don’t realize that I can’t see them in the first place. I don’t even know what the hell they’re saying. I don’t know if they’re talking to me or someone else. And people think that I’m ignoring them.” – Hurcane “At a party, it’s dark, and people are dancing, and people tend to sign rapidly, and many conversations are going on…I have to say: “Say it again? Say it again?” Many times people get frustrated, and they give up, say “Oh forget it!” and ignore me. … So I decided to just forget it, and not go to parties.” -Ricky Examples

Example • Most of the deaf RAs [resident advisors] I’ve met before disregard and reject people with Usher Syndrome, reject people who are deafblind. It’s as if they think if they touch me I will give them Usher Syndrome. That’s their mentality. It mostly happens with Deaf culture, Deaf students, and Deaf professors too. They are not really comfortable with deafblindness and Usher Syndrome. – Ricky

Educate the campus community about deafblindness Recognize the need for intensive and individual supports Gather, maintain, and disseminate information about deaf-blindness Support a “philosophy of respect” (Smith, 2002) Implications for practice

Effects of vision loss on academic opportunity: findings • Students struggled to complete assignments on time • Many students found supports to be readily available

Example • “Classes like programming, it’s hard for me to do on the computer. Because if I stare at it I can see, but then it starts getting blurry, I have to take a break. And it’s hard. Anything that has to be with writing, or reading, it’s hard.” • “[Sunnyside College] has a lot of support. Got the Usher Syndrome group support, got the deaf support, the education that I want. Everything is like a dream come true.” - Lee

“I’ve informed all my teachers that I have Usher Syndrome, so I might have a hard time reading normal print, or something like that. Teachers will say, “oh! fine,” and they have things ready for me. Or if they use the overhead and I can’t see it, they make a copy and give it to me. Also, some teachers are really motivated and willing to help me out to improve my education. “ - Rory Example

Provide flexibility in time to degree completion Provide flexibility in timelines, work products, and demonstration of learning outcomes Allow student to sit in preferred seating Support student advocacy Gather, maintain, and disseminate information about deaf-blindness Support a “philosophy of respect” (Smith, 2002) Implications for practice

Questions and discussion: implications for working with deaf/blind students at NTID/RIT • What do you see as the greatest challenges for deaf/blind students at NTID regarding • Adjustment and adaptation to vision loss • Social opportunity • Academic opportunity

Questions and discussion continued: • What do you see as the greatest challenges facing NTID/RIT in the future regarding work with deaf/blind students?

DBLink. Smith, T. (2002). Guidelines: practical tips for working and socializing with deaf-blind people.Burtonsville, MD: Sign Media. References

Process of Adjustment and Adaptation of Deaf/Blind College Students