KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / MONDAY, MAY 3, 2010 / NEWS
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Ryan Waggonner/KANSAN
Ryan Waqgoner/KANSAN
**Kyan Waggoner/KKNAI**
Kim Bates signs at Professor Dennis Prater's law class. She often works with another interpreter in the same class, and steps in her partner blanks for a moment. She said it takes an incredible amount of focus to do her job, because she has to relay every piece of information that flows between the professor and students. "Interpreters are probably the most attentive person in the room." Kim said.
e contact with professors, reviewing concepts and definitions. "There
Jerry Wang/KANSAN
his name and tried to get his attention, Ryan wouldn't respond. After tests at the doctor's office, Ryan's parents learned that he was almost completely deaf; only surgery could save what little hearing he had left. From the age of two, Ryan would require the use of digital hearing aids to pick up what little sound he could.
convocation and commencement. She also spends about 15 hours a job is easier when students trust her, she said.
Because of this, Ryan learned to sign before he learned to speak. As he began to find his voice, Ryan's parents learned to understand what their son was saying by referencing the sign he used as he spoke. His parents told him that walking outside one day, the boy turned to them and said his first word: mau-wer. But because he accompanied his words with a sign — in this case, pinching at the air in front of each of his cheeks once — Ryan's parents understood his spoken word: flower.
Ryan also learned to read lips as a means of supplementing his hearing. Even with the hearing aids, he needs the extra help. If someone is far away, speaks softly, or has an accent, Ryan cannot understand them.
Watch Kim Bates sign the Alma Mater and learn how to say basic phrases in sign language at kansan.com/videos.
Certain voices he is used to, like those of his parents, he can understand without difficulty. For most people's voices, however, his hearing is exceptionally limited.
"I'll catch the fact that they said something, but not the precision that they said it," he said.
"When I was at Gallaudet, I was able to communicate directly with my classmates and professors, so I got direct access to classroom discussions and lectures," she said.
For Tara Schupner, a 2006 graduate in journalism, growing up was entirely silent. Tara was born completely deaf; she has never heard her mother's voice; never heard herself laugh; never heard the sound of her own name. Like Ryan, she attended a mainstream school from kindergarten through high school. Unlike Ryan, she initially chose to attend Gaudelt University, a school established by Congress to cater specifically to deaf students. There, Tara was able to take part directly in every part of her classes without assistance for the first time in her life.
KELLY ROGEL 2005 graduate
"What I remember about growing up deaf was that oftentimes I would forget I was deaf around my friends..."
She left Gallaudet for KU in hopes of achieving a better education. It also meant dealing with an old set of challenges.
"Transferring to KU was like returning to what I'd experienced in public school." Tara said.
"What I remember about growing up deaf is that oftentimes I would forget I was deaf around my friends," Kelly said, "but my teachers seemed to take a while before they realized I was capable of doing the same things as everyone else could do."
Kelly Rogel, a 2005 graduate in genetics, grew up in an environment drastically different from the one Tara recalls. One of her earliest memories is inventing signs with the kids in her neighborhood so that they could communicate as they played. Her parents also learned to sign as quickly as they could to be able to talk with her.
That's where Kim, as the University's interpreter coordinator, comes in. It's her job to put students into circumstances where they can succeed as well — if only differently — as their hearing peers.
At the beginning of each semester, she sits down with each of her students to discuss what they need on any given day in every class. She then assembles a master schedule that assigns interpreters to different classes. Depending on their availability, she hopes to give them cohesive blocks of time on campus.
"There aren't any signs for most genetic vocabulary," Kelly said, "so it was tough for interpersons — including
But things are never that simple. After the schedule's been set, something always comes along to change the dynamic and puts her back at square one. One semester, a deaf student enrolled at KU shortly before the start of the fall semester. With only hours before the start of classes, Kim started making the schedule all over again.
She also needs to keep in mind which interpreters a student works best with and which interpreters have experience in certain subjects. By the time students reach senior year in genetics, as Kelly did, they are expected to have mastered certain vocabulary and techniques. The same demand is levied on their interpreter.
Kim, who interpreted some of my classes — to constantly spell out all of these long genetic terms”
"I can't imagine how stressful her job is," Ryan said. "She's been perfect."
Despite the strains of Kim's job, Ryan never once recalls her buckling under the pressure of taking care of so many words — or people — at once.
Kim also tries to take an active interest in students outside of the classroom. Her job becomes easier if they trust her. Beyond that, she genuinely cares.
Shell ask Ryan how his fantasy baseball team is doing, help get students prearranged reserved seating at Allen Fieldhouse in the event a group wants to attend, and even introduce them to her own kids. In a silent world typically defined by isolation, the transition to college can be even lonelier. Ryan remembers looking forward to class his first semester freshman year because of Kim's presence.
"It was comforting to me to know that I was going to see at least one familiar face that day," he said about Kim.
When Emily Cressy, a junior from Ventura, Calif., first arrived as a scholarship athlete, she decided to redshirt her first year on the soccer team. This meant she couldn't travel with the team to away soccer games, which in turn made her even more isolated and home-sick. Emily started flying home to California every weekend to be with her family. During the following summer, she considered not returning to the University Kim was one of the people who persuaded her to come back.
"she text me and said, it's going to get better. You'll be here to do what you came to do." Emy recalled.
Now in her sophomore season, she is looking ahead to what comes next. She wants to play professionally after college. She'd be the first deaf woman in the United States to do so. She's glad she chose to stay.
THE STUDENT
Kim started classes at Johnson County Community College in the fall of 1994. At the beginning of spring semester, she met Dwiane Bates at a local Denny's restaurant where she studied late most nights. By spring's end, the two were engaged. They married and moved to Topeka where their first daughter, Kailey, was born.
"I get to see how things really do integrate and how there is more interdisciplinary connections than most students realize when they're in their major," Kim said. "If I can be in an environment where I can learn new stuff every day, I'm a happy girl."
Kim began to freelance on campus while also taking classes toward a degree in speech-language hearing. She graduated in 2003, the same year her daughter Ellie was born.
But there are drawbacks. While she loves being in the classroom and taking in as much as she can, Kim recognizes that occasionally some students she translates for don't have the same love for learning that she does. During class, they might work on a crossword puzzle or
When Kim became the University's interim interpreter coordinator, she jumped at the opportunity to spend more time in the classroom. The sheer quantity of classes she has observed is staggering. Kim can rattle off a list of disciplines she audited as if they were members of her own family; education, sociology, biology, political science, English, anthropology, chemistry, journalism, biochemistry, geography and law. As she views it, a tuition-free, exam-free pass into every department of the University is a perk of her job.
even surf the Internet. Emily admits that she often texts her friends. Others skip.
In the event one misses class, interpreters allow a five-minute leeway period. If the student doesn't show up, the interpreters leave. If the student is there, however, the interpreter must remain at the front of the room and continue to sign, even if the student isn't watching her and paying attention.
"When I'm out in the classroom, I just have to let that all go."
KIM BATES Interpreter coordinator
In those moments, Kim explained, she is not the interpreter coordinator, nor is she the student's professor. She is merely the intermediary and whatever she thinks or feels about a student's lack of participation is irrelevant.
"When I'm out in the classroom, I just have to let that all go," she said.
THE BELIEVER
ce provides a small window to her life beyond work. Photos of Dwaine and her kids cascade along the top of her cabinets. Over her right shoulder is a small placard that says "Faith, Family, Friends." A photograph she took in the third grade is tacked to a bulletin board beyond her desk. It's a landscape shot of her hometown at sunset, one of the things she misses most about living in the country.
"I'm called to be an ambassador for Christ" she said.
She points out a cloud formation just barely visible on the photographs horizon. To her, it looks like a cross. Kim sees signs everywhere that instill in her a sense of belief and of purpose.
I'm called to be an ambassador for Christ," she said. Growing up in a church-going family prepared her for much of the work she does well. She's comfortable interpreting at funerals or worship services and said she believes her skills are God-given.
Allison says that God sent her to KU. In Kim, Allison found a kindred spirit who can understand the work that she does as well as the role faith plays in her life. The two pray with one another, for one another, and provide a deep support system in a sometimes-trying job.
When evidence class lets out, the students scatter immediately. Kim takes a few extra minutes to talk with both Ryan and Heidi before packing up her stuff. They compare notes and debrief, making sure that everything is in order for the next class. She checks with Prater one final time to ensure she hasn't misunderstood his topics. As their discussion comes to a close, Kim raises the sign for the letter V to her face. As she brings it down in front of her chest, her middle finger contracts as her thumb extends. They both know what she means. See ya.
--p
But learning about collateral evidence doesn't satisfy her need to learn. Bates, who has translated for deaf students enough classes throughout the University to earn a dozen different degrees, then heads back to her office to study.
She's working on both a masters and a doctorate in cognitive psychology.
Edited by Melissa Johnson
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