An upcoming camp at Troy University will help high school students who are deaf and hard of hearing get ready for the transition to college.
Sponsored by the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services (ADRS), Camp Success will return to the Troy Campus June 24-30.
The weeklong program is open to rising seniors or recent high school graduates. Topics to be covered include career exploration, accessing accommodations, learning styles, time management, note- and test-taking skills, and presentation skills.
“Camp Success has provided many students with the necessary skills to perform well in the college setting,” said Judy Robertson of Troy University’s Interpreter Training Program. “Students that have participated in this program have gone on to various colleges and been able to overcome many of the barriers presented to them and continue their educational journey successfully. The Interpreter Training Program, through our partnership with ADRS, is thrilled to be a small part of these students’ success.”
Jamie Glass, a senior counselor with ADRS, said each group will be responsible for using the presentation practice sessions to map out their future.
“One of the things they have to do is a short PowerPoint presentation about the career path they have chosen,” he said. “They will have to talk about why it is a good match for them and the pros and negatives for that particular field.”
In addition to educational and professional programs, students will learn the consequences of their actions through discussions centered around bullying and legal issues. Glass said the students will be instructed on how people who are deaf or hard of hearing can interact with law enforcement officers.
Glass said the students are sometimes apprehensive about participating in the camp but discover just how important these programs are as the week progresses. A past session showed this to again be true. At the conclusion of a previous camp session, a student’s mother said her son initially had been reluctant about attending but soon found the sessions to be extremely helpful.
“A majority of them are the only kids at their school who might wear hearing aids or have an implant,” Glass said. “They really are isolated, and then they get a chance to be with folks who are truly their peers and deal with the same challenges they deal with. A lot of them make friendships that last. We see that at all the camps.”
The Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services is the state agency whose mission is to enable Alabama’s children and adults with disabilities to achieve their maximum potential.
