Being deaf or hard of hearing can be an aggravating challenge.
Interacting with a world that doesn't share a person's communication system and doesn't understand that person's situation can make an already challenging situation stressful and hampered.
But many administrators, staff and faculty at UNM understand the challenges the deaf face and have taken steps to ensure the deaf and hard of hearing who work and learn at UNM have the same advantages as those who can hear.
Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services
"Where hearing people go, deaf people go," said Phyllis Wilcox, a linguistics associate professor and coordinator for Signed Language Interpreting.
UNM provides a variety of services for deaf and hard of hearing students including note taking, transcribed lectures, exam proctors and - possibly most important - signed language interpreters.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
The service, which operates under the roof of UNM's Accessibility Services, provides interpreters for students who require them for all University-related functions, classes, programs and meetings.
Bonnie Smith, program manager for the service, said students apply for an interpreter to attend their classes throughout the semester and then the service creates a schedule for those students.
But, "it's not just in the classroom," Smith said.
The service also schedules irregular requests for interpreters such as visits to the Student Health Center or meetings with study groups.
However, there are only so many certified interpreters available in Albuquerque. Smith said UNM, the Albuquerque Public School System and the Community Outreach Program for the Deaf all draw from the same pool of certified interpreters.
"An interpreter can't work more than 20 to 25 hours a week without risking repetitive-type injury," Smith said.
Although there are a limited number of interpreters to meet the demand, Smith said her program strives to address the needs of all students requesting its services.
"The driving force is what is in the best interest of the student," Smith said.
UNM's Signed Language Interpreting and linguistics
Interpreting and other services provided to deaf and hard of hearing students is not uncommon at other universities.
But a factor which makes UNM attractive to members of the deaf community is that it also offers degree programs in signed language interpreting and in linguistics.
"We have a bit of an international reputation as a university that does research on signed languages," said Sherman Wilcox.
Wilcox earned his Ph.D. in educational linguistics at UNM.
UNM students can pursue a B.S. in Signed Language Interpreting, a B.A. in Linguistics with a concentration in Signed Language Studies, a master's or doctorate degree in linguistics or a doctorate in educational linguistics.
Sherman Wilcox said the opportunity to study linguistics makes students interested in the actual language of signing, not just sign language.
"It's a very welcoming environment for them," he said.
That welcoming environment has played host to signed language interpreting students from as far away as Spain, Italy and Argentina.
The program only accepts about 15 students each semester to keep class size small and to maintain high levels of quality among its core of students.
Those students learn about linguistics and how to communicate in a variety of ways including the basics and advanced components of two signed languages.
Visual and gesture
based languages
In the United States, there are two common languages of signed interpretation.
American Sign Language is the more formal way of communicating among the deaf. It truly is its own language with rules governing syntax and grammar Phyllis Wilcox said.
ASL, although used by deaf Americans to communicate with other ASL-literate Americans, follows it's own rules of grammar which at times can be very different from spoken English.
Another common way of communicating by gestures in the United States is signed English. Signed English is basically a visual interpretation of the English language that uses the same syntax and grammar.
Students can receive certification in one or both.
Interpreting as a profession
Both Phyllis Wilcox and Bonnie Smith said signed language interpreting is a profession that is in high demand.
Interpreters get a close glimpse into a deaf or hard of hearing person's life. Sometimes they are a party to privileged conversations with doctors, lawyers and therapists.
"Deaf people have a right to select who they feel comfortable with," said Phyllis Wilcox.
In addition to ethics, trust plays a major role between the deaf and their interpreters.
UNM President F. Chris Garcia played a key role
Signed Language Interpreting was not always under the auspices of the Linguistics Department.
Previously, Signed Language Interpreting was under the roof of Communicative Disorders in the College of Arts and Sciences for many years, said Interim President appointee F. Chris Garcia.
During the 1983 fall semester, Phyllis Wilcox convinced Garcia, then dean of the College Arts and Sciences, to move the program to the Linguistics Department.
"It's one of the things I'm very happy to have been a part of," Garcia said.
Garcia said the program has seemed have grown under the roof of the Linguistics department and that UNM has become a leading institution in the research of signed language from a linguistic approach.
"It's very well known nationally, if not internationally."
