Hearing from those who cannot hear themselves

Alicia Magliocco Speaks of her
experience on campus as a
partially deaf student
By: Jenn Burden

Having disabilities that can't be seen makes life on campus a little more difficult for students like Alicia Magliocco.
Magliocco, who is in her second year of the law clerk program at Algonquin, is just like any other student. But spend a little extra time with her and you would soon become aware of all she has to deal with.
Walking the halls of the college can be a challenge because Magliocco's disability isn't noticeable by looking at her-she is partially deaf. She said people don't really act accordingly as they would if the came across someone in a wheelchair.
"I hardly ever hear people say excuse me" said Alicia. "I've had people knock into me on purpose for not getting out of the way."
Alicia, who developed tinnitus (constant ringing in the ears) and a hearing loss at the age of 16, now relies on a hearing aid to hear what so many of us take for granted.
"A lot of people get pissed off because I don't understand them." she said.
She can't go to certain places on campus, such as The Observatory (school pub, pool tables, and lounge), because of the acoustics of the room. The openness of the Ob, the number of people, and the amount of metal that echoes throughout the room, makes it extremely difficult for Alicia to hear anything specific.
However, she has taken advantage of the services offered at the college by the Centre for Students with Disabilities to help her out.
Alicia uses the Phonak Smartlink SX Fm system , a device which her teachers can wear around their neck so that she can understand them without having rely so much on lipreading while they can move freely around the classroom. The CSD provided her with the system and it's hers to keep.
Unfortunately, Alicia said many of her teachers don't use the system properly. The system is designed to be worn around the neck of the teacher on a lanyard so that it moves with them. She said some teachers just leave it at the front of the class and walk around the room where the system can't pick up anymore and Alicia can't see them. For someone who relies on lipreading and visual cues to understand, this becomes difficult.
Rod Delcourt, who teaches Alicia legal accounting, has worn the system on a couple of occasions and said it doens't impede on his teaching style. " [The system] helps," he said. "I'm a little movile in the classroom...It allows me to not be in front of her."
Delcourt said Alicia doesn't always bring it to class however. "She's not nervous or self-concious about asking her profs to wear it, " he said. "She decides that day whether or not to use it."
Alicia also had help of note takers for her classes. "I have one professional note takerand the rest are student note takers," she siad. Ramla Ali, 20, who is in the same law clerk program as Alicia, is one of her student note takers.
Ali said the CSD provides her with special carbon papaer that allows her to take the notes. The CSD also gives Ali a $25 gift certificate to the First Class Bookstore on campus for each course she takes notes in for Alicia.
Alicia would like to see more information about students with disabilities at student fairs and for teachers to be more aware educated and understanding of certain disabilities. She would just like people to be more aware.
"You never know if someone has a problem,"she said.




This was an article that was written for my school newspaper . Their are 8 deaf/hoh students.
Stats at my college:
Students who use interpreters: 6
Students who use computerized notetakers 3
Students using fm systems: 12
Students using a peer notetaker : 32