Imagine yourself not meeting another person of your sex (or skin color, etc) until you were 26 years old. Then, for the first time in your life you meet some one just like you. Imagine the shock and surprise, and the self-discovery you would go through. During that time there is the growing joy in being with and knowing others who are just like you. That is what happened to me.
I was twenty-six years old before I met someone just like me. I grew up in the fifties, sixties and seventies, in the time before ADA and mainstreaming in public schools. I grew up with parents who wanted me to live as normal a life as possible. I did not know about TTY's, sign language, or Deaf clubs. I didn't even know any other kids who wore hearing aids. I did not know anyone who was just like me.
I was born totally deaf in my right ear and with a profound hearing loss in my left ear. At twenty-six years of age, I went to the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) in Rochester, New York, not really knowing what I was getting into. It turns out I got much more than an academic education.
For the first time in my life I met people who were hard of hearing, wearing hearing aids, oral, and did not sign. They were just like me. I also met Deaf people who don't use their voice, sign all the time and went to Deaf schools. I met hearing, deaf and hard of hearing people who knew how to educate deaf and hard of hearing people. This is a whole new world for me.
I spent all my college years going through "culture shock," as some called it. I was twenty-six years behind in deaf/hard of hearing education, friendships and, in short, life. During my college years I did a lot of catching up -- changed profoundly, from someone who was passive, inactive and naïve, to being socially and academically active, learning about myself and having many friends. In short, I finally grew up mentally, emotionally and spiritually. During those college years I had many hearing, deaf and hard of hearing mentors. It has been twenty years since I left NTID, but I have never forgotten the friendship, mentoring, education, they gave to me. They may say it was just their job, but for me it they were giving me life. I was reborn.
Today, there are TDD's, Deaf Clubs, interpreters, colleges and universities around the country with support services for the Deaf and Hard of hearing students. Deaf and Hard of hearing children are mainstreamed in the public schools. Yet, I have met several children who don't know any Deaf or Hard of Hearing adults as a role model, friend or mentor. I have met several hearing parents who have deaf or hard of hearing children they love dearly and provide for all their needs, yet they do not know what it is like to be growing up deaf or hard of hearing. Their child does not know an adult who understands their experiences growing up in a hearing family, a hearing school and a hearing world. They don't know any adults as a friend who is just like them. That is why the Champions program was started, to provide mentoring services to deaf and hard of hearing children.
Champions is a Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) program begun in June 2001 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Yes, it's a brand new, and I think, long overdue, program. In the core BBBS program boys and girls ages 6 to 14 in single parent families are matched with adult volunteers of the same gender. The "Big" and the "Little" meet once a week for two to five hours in activities they both enjoy. The Big is a role model, a friend and a mentor with the Little. The BBBS program has a proven success record since 1903 and is nationwide.
In the Champions program deaf and hard of hearing boys and girls, ages 5 to 17 years old, from one or two parent families, and single deaf parents, are matched with deaf and hard of hearing adult volunteers just like them. Before the match the child, their family, and the volunteer are carefully screened. After the parent of a deaf or hard of hearing child contacts BBBS, the counselor asks a few questions to determine if the child is qualified for the program. Then the counselor interviews the parents and the child to learn their goals, preferences, type of volunteer, types of activities, and other information that will help the counselor to make the best match possible.
The adult volunteer mentor goes through a strict screening. Through interviews, police background checks, and references, the counselor learns about the volunteer's strengths, weaknesses, interests, hobbies, and personality. The volunteer also goes through two workshops to learn additional skills to be a successful volunteer. The process works to screen out volunteers who are not appropriate, and screen in those who are. As with the child, the information learned from the volunteer serves to help make the best match with a child possible.
Yet through all the interviews, paperwork and training, the goal of the Champions mentoring program is to match a deaf or hard of hearing child
