Camp Success Helps Deaf Students Prepare for College
High school students with hearing disabilities are learning skills that will help them transition to college.
“I’ve struggled a lot with a lot of teachers who don’t understand,” high school senior Hannah Beth Rains says.
Rains used an interpreter to speak because she is deaf.
It’s all part of Camp Success, held annually on Troy University’s campus.
The camp is sponsored by the Alabama Department of RehabilitationServices.
For over 20 years, Camp Success has helped high school seniors and graduates with deafness or hearing loss prepare for college life.
“You know, there’s a wide range of different career goals that they have and we’d like to teach them individually how they can arrive and achieve those goals,” Alex Tenney of the Alabama Department of Rehab Services says.
The camp uses activities to help teach skills that the students would find useful in a college classroom.
“It’s helped me communicate with people more, open up more, speak up for myself ,” Aysiah Brown says. Brown is deaf in her left ear.
“They learn about time management, budgeting , making sure you know how to have note taking skills, accommodations,” Tenney says.
The camp also helps the students interact with others who also experience hearing loss or deafness.
Some of the students come from schools where they were the only ones with hearing disabilities.
“They feel inspired that they’re able to meet other students and other deaf professionals that also have hearing loss,” Tenney says.
Camp Success ends Saturday after the students will present a powerpoint presentation to their parents on all they have learned.
You can find out more about CAMP SUCCESS here.
