Stories of Donors & Friends

Aid to Silent Worlds

David Pickett's world may be silent, but his desire for an education is loud. This UVU deaf student yearns for knowledge without complication.

With a desire to answer the needs of nearly 40 deaf students at UVU (the largest deaf student population of any Utah state-assisted college or university), Accessibility Services Department (ASD) Director Kimberly Beck applied for a Foundation faculty and staff merit grant last fall semester.

"If you haven't experienced being deaf, you don't realize the frustrations these students face," she said. "These donations help the deaf students be able to get closer to getting the same education as any other student on campus."

A merit grant of $5,000 awarded last spring is giving Beck more resources to support the 1,000-plus students who use ASD services, including those who are deaf.

The grant will fund employee training on a new technology system called "Typewell." Typewell is a laptop-to-laptop system where deaf students receive lectures word-for-word. A trained staff member types lectures in a method similar to typing shorthand or speedwriting and the lectures go directly to a deaf student's laptop.

"There are a lot of classes where interpreters fulfill the need," Beck said. "The real-time captioning will aid in higher level classes with advanced material and vocabulary. The students have been requesting it for years now."

The new technology is exciting, but other donated funds are still needed to acquire full-time interpreters for students - the need that plagues Pickett the most.

"I am grateful for my interpreters, but I have sometimes misunderstood homework assignments and even missed assignments because the interpreter failed to relay it correctly," Pickett said. "Quality professional interpreters are so important, and must be paid and treated like professionals."

Professional interpreters can invest more energy into increasing their vocabularies and furthering their education - allowing them to better serve deaf students.

With an ever-growing need, Beck is grateful for every donor. "They're helping UVU provide a better education for students with special needs," she said.

Printed in the UVU Annual Report 2001-2002