Andrea Flores EDINBURG – A lack of accessibility came to light as American Sign Language Interpretation Program Coordinator explained how the Rio Grande Valley needs better understanding of the d/Deaf community.
Misconceptions about the d/Deaf range from thinking that they cannot listen to music, drive, read or be as educated as hearing people when this is not true, Brian Cheslik explained in an interview.
“The Valley in general is, just, a lack of exposure,” he said. “The d/Deaf community has gotten used to just accepting whatever type of accessibility they can get. Oftentimes, the accessibility that they can get is not very good.”
Cheslik said that there is a lack of understanding among the Valley hearing community on what is appropriate accessibility.
“Some people just assume: ‘Oh, we’ll just go ahead and add captions.’ And that’s access,” he said. “Not necessarily because a lot of d/Deaf people, English is not their first language. ASL is their first language.”
Recalling one of his experiences as a student, he said that note taking was challenging at some point, needing an ASL interpreter, captions and a notetaker while other students only had to look down and write while listening to the lecture.
Third year graduate medical student Courtney Austin said being d/Deaf requires a lot of self-advocacy.
Austin said she had to search and request for a different stethoscope as regular ones do not work with her hearing aids and implants.
She explained that her interest toward otolaryngology, which is a specialty of the ears, nose and throat, stems from the desire to provide d/Deaf representation in the medical field.
Austin added that she has observed communication barriers in places where equal access is not available.
Cheslik encouraged the hearing community to not make excuses for not learning ASL and recommended learning from an actual d/Deaf person and not just from anyone on TikTok.
He would like to create workshops within the UTRGV School of Medicine to bridge the gap to provide more access and create future approachable experiences for d/Deaf patients.
