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Deaf high school students graduate with pride - 06/14/2008 - MiamiHerald.com
Four friends and recent graduates of Southwest Miami High School redefined the meaning of being deaf and have proven that all is possible.
Now, gearing up for college, Daniel Moreno, Stephanie Adrover, Gleidys Anton and Martin Stein are ready to begin a new chapter in each of their lives.
''Few deaf people are proud of being deaf; they really wish they could be hearing,'' Moreno said in American Sign Language to his mother, who translated for him. ``For me: No. It would take me a long time to process everything and learn how to live my life and I'm happy with my life.
``I'm really proud of being deaf and I don't care what people think. I only care about me. I'm important.''
For these four, it is this attitude that has helped them overcome the obstacles that get in the way of being able to lead normal lives.
In fact, their involvement in sports and the arts throughout their school years further reaffirms they are just like other teenagers, only part of a different, nonhearing world. For them, communicating with the hearing is the most challenging.
''Sometimes the hearing kids would make fun of me because they thought I was ignorant because I communicate with my hands. I just wished they knew more about the deaf culture,'' said Adrover, who during her senior year took that sentiment to a whole new level by serving as president of the Deaf Culture Club. ``Hearing people need to understand that sign language is a language like any other.''
Kirsten Schwarz, a speech pathologist who works with Miami-Dade County Public Schools, and who has known Adrover, Moreno and Stein since middle school and Anton for two years -- says their involvement within the deaf community plays a big role in their personal improvement.
''We're lucky that we've been able to keep them all together,'' Schwarz said. ``Being a part of the deaf community and to be able to share experiences with other deaf people really opens the door to endless opportunities for them.''
What Schwarz refers to is not only completing high school by attending classes with the hearing, but also the fact that two of them drive and that this fall, Adrover, Moreno and Stein will go to New York for college.
Moreno, an all-star varsity volleyball player his junior and senior years, was even contacted to participate with the college volleyball team attending the Deaflympics in Taiwan next year.
''These four, they're just amazing,'' Schwarz said. ``They really don't let their deafness get in the way. If they want to do something, they just do it.''
Moreno, Adrover and Stein will all attend the National Technical Institute for the Deaf -- one of a handful of universities around the country that service deaf people. Anton; however, will remain in South Florida and attend Johnson and Wales University to major in accounting.
Moreno, Adrover and Stein will major in engineering technology, laboratory science and Web design, respectively.
''My goal is to graduate from college, find a job and hopefully get married, have kids and have a happy life,'' Adrover said.
Family support has also been an integral part of their upbringing.
For all of them, their parents have been highly involved with their activities: learning to sign and encouraging academic challenges that according to Maria Adrover, Stephanie's mom, county schools would prefer to keep them from pursuing.
''No one can tell you -- no administrator, no teacher, no counselor -- what's best for your child . . .,'' Adrover said. ``I wanted my child to get the opportunity to be mainstreamed and today there's no regrets. She has always moved forward.''
Ambar Hernandez, who teaches language arts at Southwest and taught all four students for the past two years calls them her ``original babies.''
She said the students' improvements still amaze her.
''When I see what they've become, that's why I call them that,'' Hernandez said. ``A lot of people think they're so limited but obviously not -- they can function just as a hearing person can.''
Hernandez said their attitude about life is one of ``So I speak with my hands, no big deal.''
''That's their mentality,'' Hernandez said. ``They're just normal, fun-loving teenagers and they just graduated, which is great.''
Stein and Anton are considered hard-of-hearing, meaning they can hear certain sounds. Moreno and Adrover, on the other hand, are profoundly deaf.
Four friends and recent graduates of Southwest Miami High School redefined the meaning of being deaf and have proven that all is possible.
Now, gearing up for college, Daniel Moreno, Stephanie Adrover, Gleidys Anton and Martin Stein are ready to begin a new chapter in each of their lives.
''Few deaf people are proud of being deaf; they really wish they could be hearing,'' Moreno said in American Sign Language to his mother, who translated for him. ``For me: No. It would take me a long time to process everything and learn how to live my life and I'm happy with my life.
``I'm really proud of being deaf and I don't care what people think. I only care about me. I'm important.''
For these four, it is this attitude that has helped them overcome the obstacles that get in the way of being able to lead normal lives.
In fact, their involvement in sports and the arts throughout their school years further reaffirms they are just like other teenagers, only part of a different, nonhearing world. For them, communicating with the hearing is the most challenging.
''Sometimes the hearing kids would make fun of me because they thought I was ignorant because I communicate with my hands. I just wished they knew more about the deaf culture,'' said Adrover, who during her senior year took that sentiment to a whole new level by serving as president of the Deaf Culture Club. ``Hearing people need to understand that sign language is a language like any other.''
Kirsten Schwarz, a speech pathologist who works with Miami-Dade County Public Schools, and who has known Adrover, Moreno and Stein since middle school and Anton for two years -- says their involvement within the deaf community plays a big role in their personal improvement.
''We're lucky that we've been able to keep them all together,'' Schwarz said. ``Being a part of the deaf community and to be able to share experiences with other deaf people really opens the door to endless opportunities for them.''
What Schwarz refers to is not only completing high school by attending classes with the hearing, but also the fact that two of them drive and that this fall, Adrover, Moreno and Stein will go to New York for college.
Moreno, an all-star varsity volleyball player his junior and senior years, was even contacted to participate with the college volleyball team attending the Deaflympics in Taiwan next year.
''These four, they're just amazing,'' Schwarz said. ``They really don't let their deafness get in the way. If they want to do something, they just do it.''
Moreno, Adrover and Stein will all attend the National Technical Institute for the Deaf -- one of a handful of universities around the country that service deaf people. Anton; however, will remain in South Florida and attend Johnson and Wales University to major in accounting.
Moreno, Adrover and Stein will major in engineering technology, laboratory science and Web design, respectively.
''My goal is to graduate from college, find a job and hopefully get married, have kids and have a happy life,'' Adrover said.
Family support has also been an integral part of their upbringing.
For all of them, their parents have been highly involved with their activities: learning to sign and encouraging academic challenges that according to Maria Adrover, Stephanie's mom, county schools would prefer to keep them from pursuing.
''No one can tell you -- no administrator, no teacher, no counselor -- what's best for your child . . .,'' Adrover said. ``I wanted my child to get the opportunity to be mainstreamed and today there's no regrets. She has always moved forward.''
Ambar Hernandez, who teaches language arts at Southwest and taught all four students for the past two years calls them her ``original babies.''
She said the students' improvements still amaze her.
''When I see what they've become, that's why I call them that,'' Hernandez said. ``A lot of people think they're so limited but obviously not -- they can function just as a hearing person can.''
Hernandez said their attitude about life is one of ``So I speak with my hands, no big deal.''
''That's their mentality,'' Hernandez said. ``They're just normal, fun-loving teenagers and they just graduated, which is great.''
Stein and Anton are considered hard-of-hearing, meaning they can hear certain sounds. Moreno and Adrover, on the other hand, are profoundly deaf.
I'm sure they'll love the RIT experience and will be highly successful there.