Teaching supports like captioning on a tablet PC, can allow deaf students to learn in operating theatre practicals where everyone is masked and gowned.
The University of California solved the issue of a deaf student lip-reading masked colleagues in theatre, by using a tablet PC to provide live-captioning (CART). The PC device was wrapped in clear plastic for hygiene reasons.
Across the US, in Illinois state – “I have seen a completely different shift in what the deaf students are enrolled in,” confirms Karen Adams, disability specialist and coordinator of deaf services at the College of Lake County.
One current nursing student at CLC uses an amplified stethoscope and Skype-facilitated real-time captioning for anatomy and physiology courses.
Read about this nursing student’s journey.
Medical studies are ‘non-traditional’ areas for deaf students, but with college supports and technologies like these, there is no reason not to train as a doctor, dentist or veterinarian if this is where a student’s real interest lies.
Further Reading
