Hearing from those who cannot hear themselves

By Jennifer Burden

burd0018@algonquincollege.com

Having disabilities that can’t be seen makes life on campus a little more difficult for students like Alicia Magliocco.

Magliocco, who is in her second year of the law clerk program at Algonquin, is just like any other student. But spend a little extra time with her and you would soon become aware of all she has to deal with.

Walking the halls of the college can be a challenge because Magliocco’s disability isn’t noticeable by looking at her—she is partially deaf.  She said people don’t really act accordingly as they would if they came across someone in a wheelchair.

“I hardly ever hear people say excuse me,” said Magliocco. “I’ve had people knock into me on purpose because I’m in the way.”

Magliocco, who developed tinnitus (constant ringing in the ears) at the age of 16, now relies on a hearing aid to hear what so many of us take for granted.

“A lot of people get pissed off because I don’t understand them,” she said.

She can’t go to certain places on campus, such as The Observatory, because of the acoustics of the room. The openness of The Ob, the number of people, and the amount of metal that echoes throughout the room, makes it extremely difficult for Magliocco to hear anything specific.

However, she has taken advantage of the services offered at the college by the Centre for Students with Disabilities to help her out.

Magliocoo uses the Phonak Smartlink SX system, a device which her teachers can wear around their neck so that she can understand them without having to read their lips as they move around the classroom. The CSD provided her with the system and it’s hers to keep.

Unfortunately, Magliocco said many of her teachers don’t use the system properly. The system is designed to be worn around the neck of the teacher on a lanyard so that it moves with them. She said some teachers just leave it at the front of the class and walk around the room where the system can’t pick them up anymore and Magliocco can’t see them. For someone who relies on lip-reading and visual cues to understand, this becomes difficult.

Rod Delcourt, who teaches Magliocco legal accounting, has worn the machine on a couple of occasions and said it doesn’t impede on his teaching style.

“[The system] helps,” he said. “I’m a little mobile in the classroom ... It allows me to not be in front of her.”

Delcourt said Magliocco doesn’t always bring it to class however.

“She’s not nervous or self-conscious about asking her profs to wear it,” he said. “She decides that day whether or not to use it.”

Magliocco also has the help of note takers for her classes.

“I have one professional note taker and the rest are student note takers,” she said.

Ramla Ali, 20, who is in the same law clerk program as Magliocco, is one of her student note takers.

Ali said the CSD provides her with special paper that allows her notes to be transferred to a sheet underneath, just like carbon paper. The CSD also gives Ali a $25 gift certificate to the First Class Bookstore on campus for each course she takes notes in for Magliocco.

Being in classes with Magliocco and being aware of her disability has made Ali notice how some teachers disregard the Phonak Smartlink SX system.

“It’s like you told them to wear some seriously ugly head gear,” she said.

Ali would like to see teachers more educated about the system and disabilities in general because if they don’t have a student with a disability now, they may have one in the future.

Magliocco would like to see more information about students with disabilities at student fairs and for teachers to be more educated and understanding of certain disabilities. She would just like people to be more aware.

“You never know if someone has a problem,” she said.