USD professor raises awareness for Deaf community in classroom

A class usually taken to fill a language requirement is opening student’s eyes to an entire community and culture.

American Sign Language (ASL) is a 400-level class in the department of communication sciences and disorders (DCOM). This course has been so popular that another section is being added on next year.

While the purpose of the class is to teach sign language, it also serves as an introduction to the Deaf community.

The World Health Organization reports that worldwide, there are 360 million people with disabling hearing loss. The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders reports that one in eight Americans – 30 million people – have hearing loss in one or both ears.

USD Disability Services reports that there are seven students with reported hearing impairments.

Teri Bellis, chair of the DCOM department, teaches ASL. Bellis grew up in the Deaf community — she is hearing but her older brother is deaf, and she grew up with deaf friends and ASL as a first language.

Bellis said classes like hers help raise awareness about the Deaf community.

“There has been a real up search in awareness on social media, particularly Facebook,” she said. “There’s been several sites that have been putting out videos to try to raise awareness.”

Very few students know there’s a Deaf community and that its members are “loud and proud and deaf,” she said.

Bellis showed her class a video of a baby hearing for the first time, and then asked the class if they’ve ever seen videos of babies signing for the first time. Bellis said that question opens a lot of students’ eyes.

Junior communication sciences and disorders major Sydney Busch is in her first class with Bellis.

“You know, the Deaf community, nobody really talks about it. It’s not something that you’re really that aware of until you take a course like this,” Busch said. “But they have the way that they perceive the world and the way that they live the life.”

Busch said as a DCOM major she knew some about the community but the class has expanded her knowledge.

“I knew that it existed, but I definitely think I’m more interested in it now that I know more about it and I’d like to keep learning more about it,” she said.

Bellis said raising awareness about the Deaf community will help parents understand that having a deaf baby isn’t a sad or bad thing.

“When (a) child grows up they can choose to be a member of the hearing world, a member of the deaf world or a member of both, and we’re not doing enough there,” she said.