Sign of the times For 30 years, Lenoir-Rhyne's been a deaf-friendly campus After hearing that Lenoir-Rhyne College, Hickory, N.C., would soon begin enrolling deaf students, Andrew Weisner spent the summer of 1977 learning to finger spell so he could communicate with his future classmates. “Before then I didn’t have the least bit of interest in sign language,” he said. “But once these four deaf students arrived ... it became a passion of mine.” Weisner learned to converse in sign language simply by being with them in the cafeteria and at other gatherings. Today he continues to sign with deaf and hard-of-hearing students at Lenoir-Rhyne, where he’s been the campus pastor since 1995. Lenoir-Rhyne has earned the reputation of a deaf-friendly community. In the last 30 years, more than 175 deaf and hard-of-hearing students have attended the ELCA school. The college provides extensive support services, including note-takers for classes; specially equipped dorm rooms; real-time captioning for some events; and licensed interpreters or signers for classes, events, worship services and other activities. It also offers a deaf Bible study, Sign Troupe (a sign language performing group) and a deaf-awareness service organization called H.A.N.D.S. (Hearing and Deaf Signers). Lenoir-Rhyne also offers a deaf and hard-of-hearing education major. The presence of deaf and hard-of-hearing students on campus “influences the campus in a rich way,” Weisner said. When he forgot to arrange for an interpreter for a Martin Luther King Jr. memorial service, Weisner remembers that a hearing-abled student offered to interpret for him. “That was the extent to which our deaf students had influenced the rest of the campus—by interacting with hearing students in such a way that deafness was almost like blue-eyedness,” he said. Poetry in motion Referring to sign language as “poetry in motion,” Weisner said it’s especially beautiful and meaningful when used to interpret the Lord’s Prayer, liturgy or Scripture readings. For example, with Exodus 14, in which the children of Israel pass through the Red Sea with Pharoah’s chariots in pursuit, “you see the children being led by Moses and you see the chariots clog in mud,” Weisner said. “It’s almost like a play.” Shawn Frank, director of support services for deaf/disability students, works closely with students, coordinating services, advising and assisting with academic plans. When students graduate it’s “bittersweet,” Frank said, adding, “We all feel like we’ve really made a difference and the students have done well. But at the same time, it’s hard to let them go because we’ve worked so closely with them for four years.” Lauren Ballard, 22, recently graduated from Lenoir-Rhyne with a major in deaf and hard-of-hearing education, a minor in music, and a “desire to help deaf children realize they can enjoy and participate in music,” she said. Ballard knows firsthand that enjoyment. Despite being profoundly deaf, she played tuba in Lenoir-Rhyne’s Concert Band and Brass Ensemble. Today, Ballard, a teacher, lets her students touch the instruments while she plays different patterns, rhythms and pitches to model the cadence of speech—often elusive for people with a hearing loss. |
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