In Remembrance - Western Oregon University

WOU students sacrificed eight days of their summer break at Seabeck,
Wash., volunteering as support service providers at the annual deaf-blind
camp this August.
Background
Eleven Western students and five recent
WOU graduates, who all are ASLfluent,
worked as volunteer support
service providers (SSP) and interpreters
for deaf-blind adults who traveled from
all across the U.S., Canada and other
countries (England, Holland) to enjoy
a vacation with other deaf-blind adults.
The Lighthouse for the Blind in Seattle
hosts this camp annually in Seabeck,
Wash., a small town in the Olympic
Peninsula where there is a year-round
conference center.
About the Deaf-blind camp
Deaf-blind campers from ages 20 to 81
came, explored, adventured and most
all with the support of an SSP, someone
who gives visual information and
cues (such as how many steps are up
ahead). When there were announcements
of activities and the days’ events
at all the meals, the SSP’s also worked as
interpreters—many using tactile communication,
some using close vision
and some signing from across the table,
depending on the visual field of the
deaf-blind camper. This trip is only as
successful as they have strong numbers
of knowledgeable and competent SSPs
to match the individual and unique
communication needs of the campers.
When people think of “deaf-blind,” they
tend to think fully without hearing or
sight, and in fact, that is not accurate.
While some campers are fully tactile,
hand over hand to receive signed communication,
some individuals are born
deaf with Usher’s Syndrome, or “tunnel
vision” and the range of that tunnel varies
person to person. Some individuals
16 WOU Magazine • FALL 2009
WOU students volun
were blind first and later lost hearing,
and may be more reliant on spoken
English and the use of assistive listening
devices and may not sign at all.
How students prepared
While most of the Western students
who went on the trip are in Western’s
ASL/English Interpreting program, they
had also taken the deaf-blind interpreting
over winter term in preparation for
this experience and had to apply and
write essays in order to participate in
this experience. Among other resources,
they read Theresa Smith’s book,
Guidelines for Working and Socializing
with Deaf-blind People, and practiced
with each other how to guide, interpret,
and simulate what it would be like to
have different types of Deaf-blindness.
They met weekly throughout spring
term, raised over $3,000, and participated
in team-building activities. They
took responsibility for teaching each
other different educational components