The Northeastern University Deaf Club (NUDC) begins its annual Deaf Awareness Week tonight, with events open to all Northeastern students, said NUDC President Sarah Honigfeld.
NUDC’s events follow last week’s International Week of the Deaf, a week recognized by the World Federation of the Deaf and the National Association of the Deaf, according to the associations’ websites. The week, recognized annually during the last full week of September, commemorates the first meeting of the World Congress of the Deaf in 1951, according to the sites.
Speaking online through instant messaging, Honigfeld, who is deaf, said she feels Northeastern’s campus is accepting of its deaf students. NUDC’s version of Deaf Awareness Week aims to promote more campuswide awareness of Northeastern’s deaf community, she said.
“I have always felt comfortable in a hearing environment. I felt that Northeastern would be no different, probably even better, and I was right,” she said.
In addition to groups like NUDC, the sophomore human services and sociology major said Northeastern’s services for deaf students have been supportive.
“The Disability Resource Center provides many accommodations and also advocates for student’s rights,” she said. “They provide sign language interpreters and note taking services, which I use, as well as extended testing time, a microphone system to hear professors better during class, additional tutoring, and many other types of accommodations.”
Through these resources, Honigfeld said she felt like she has the same opportunities on and off campus as hearing students.
“I don’t feel like I’m missing anything or left out of anything,” she said. “I can always request interpreters to events on campus (not just for classes) and I am starting to get very involved with the deaf community off campus. Also, I find that people (students and staff alike) are very welcoming and respectful here, which is great.”
Honigfeld said the Deaf Awareness Week events are not only designed to get students involved in NUDC, but also to inform students about deaf culture.
Josh Swiller, author of “The Unheard: Memoirs of Deafness in Africa,” will speak in the Curry Student Center (CSC) Ballroom tonight at 7 p.m. The book recounts how Swiller was affected while completing community service in Zimbabwe, Africa as a deaf person.
On Tuesday, students can go to the Raytheon Amphitheatre in the Egan Research Center at 7 p.m. for a see a sneak preview of the movie “See What I’m Saying,” which is a documentary about deaf entertainers and is being released later this year. Following the preview, attendees will have a 45-minute Q&A session with director Hilari Scarl. On Wednesday, Scarl returns to the amphitheater to host two workshops focused on theater and improv for deaf people, starting at 7 p.m.
Thursday’s event, called Deaf Deaf World, is meant to simulate for hearing students what it is like to be deaf, Honigfeld said. It will be held in the CSC Ballroom at 7 p.m.
“We have our traditional Deaf Deaf World, in which the Ballroom is converted to a completely silent world with tables set up representing real world activities (i.e. post office, library, restaurant, etc) and participants [can] go to each table and have a conversation without using their voice,” she said.
Tyler Brace, a freshman undecided major, said he was interested to see the outcome of Deaf Deaf World, which Honigfeld said has annually attracted more than 100 participants from Northeastern and the Boston area.
“It will be different for people who can hear to be submerged into a world that is suddenly silent,” said Brace, a hearing person. “Most people take their senses for granted so when one is taken away it will be interesting to see how people react; maybe it will make them more aware of others that don’t have those advantages.”
Honigfeld said all events are posted on Northeastern’s campus calendar at www.neu.edu. For more information, e-mail nudeafclub@gmail.com.
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