Sun, Oct 24, 1999 page2

• Hearing-impaired work toward a better future

  DISABILITY Charity groups are offering camps in which partially deaf students learn to adapt to mainstream society so they can live more fulfilled lives

  • By Oliver Lin / STAFF REPORTER
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  A group of some 10 hearing-impaired college students sit in a semi-circle in a corridor of a Chientan Activity Center building in Taipei, listening to or reading the lips of their tutor, who speaks loudly and uses somewhat exaggerated facial and physical expressions to get his point across. The man doing the talking is a volunteer, and a college student himself. He is conducting the opening session of a camp intended to help students better prepare for their future outside of school.

  The talk appeared to be the successful beginning of a two-day seminar launched yesterday, sponsored jointly by several Taipei Rotary Clubs and social groups for more than 60 hearing-impaired college students from all over Taiwan. There are 186 hearing-impaired students currently enrolled in universities, organizers said.

  "I came here because this is an opportunity to learn," said Hsu Ting-jung (許庭榮), a sophomore in the management science department at National Chiaotung University. With considerable effort, he spelled out his goal: "We can't rely on others. We have to be on our own."

  That was exactly what the sponsors had in mind. "We want to offer them the opportunity to meet with people from [mainstream] society. We hope that people will pay more attention to the hearing-impaired, and that businesses will provide them with employment opportunities," said Lin Shih-chiang (林士強), one of the organizers of the camp.

  Seminars include career planning, how to take a dynamic part in social activities and accessing information about job opportunities.

  "I expect my daughter to take a bigger part in society and to communicate with other people more effectively," said Chiang Chun-ming (江俊明), who heads the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Welfare Promotion Association (聲暉聯合會), an association representing parents of hearing impaired children.

  "Generally speaking, hearing-impaired people have less contact with other people due to their difficulties in communicating with others. They also tend to have a lower sense of security," Chiang said. "This is an excellent opportunity for them. I can see they are very exited to be here."

  The Agape Social Welfare Association (愛加社會福利關懷協會), another co-sponsor of the camp, has trained some 100 volunteers to help hearing impaired students with their study, said its chairman Hsu Jen-chieh (許仁傑).

  "We are doing what should be done by the government," he said.

  Chiang agreed. The government should provide better campus support for hearing-impaired students, he said. Businesses, government and parents should help them with more employment opportunities, he said.

  But he is optimistic. "Although things are far from ideal for these people, the situation is already much better than it was 10 years ago," Chiang said.

  No less optimistic was his daughter Chiang Yi-an (江儀安). The sophomore at the special education department of Chungyuan Christian University said she wants to become a teacher in this field. If her disability disqualifies her from this, she would like to do research work on the education of the hearing-impaired, she said.

  "Some hearing-impaired people take a negative view of themselves," she said, smiling. "But we can do a lot of things. How can we know before we try?"
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