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JS Online: School for Deaf addressing suicide
They live in a world of silence and sometimes isolation. It can be aggravating, maddening and even tormenting.
Courtney Gunville knows well the frustrations of being deaf.
The cheerful 19-year-old college freshman was born deaf. She has experienced the anxiety of feeling alone in a roomful of people.
In 2003, Gunville watched a deaf friend slip into such despair that the friend committed suicide.
Both were students at the Wisconsin School for the Deaf. So when Gunville learned that the school was launching a suicide prevention program, she was eager to help.
The Walworth County school is using a federal grant to help finance a groundbreaking program that will teach students, their parents and mental health professionals how to recognize and cope with deaf people who are suicidal.
"I know there are deaf people who feel that way," Gunville said through an interpreter. "You don't want to see anyone else go down that road."
Deborah Tillman saw early warning signs in her son, Joshua, who also attended the Wisconsin School for the Deaf.
As a young child, Joshua began acting paranoid because he saw people talking and laughing, and he worried that they were talking about him. Temper tantrums soon followed.
Tillman not only found a mental health professional who was able to help, she also learned sign language so she could stay connected with her son.
If families lack communication with their deaf children, she said, the problems can get much worse.
"Just imagine never being able to have a conversation with your family," she said. "That's why they need mental health services - their souls are broken."
Officials at the Wisconsin School for the Deaf are confronting the problem in many ways, using money from a federal grant that is targeting youth suicide throughout Wisconsin.
School officials have developed a six-hour course to teach mental health counselors and other professionals how to understand - and help - deaf people.
Next up is a video instructing deaf students to watch for signs of mental illness. And the school is considering another video to show parents how to be stronger advocates for deaf children who need mental health treatment.
Christina Dean, who is coordinating the school's efforts, said administrators have been shocked to see mental health counselors who never exchange a word with their deaf patients, either because the counselors do not know sign language or because they have no translator.
"It blows us away," Dean said.
Although there is little scientific research on whether deafness contributes to an increased risk of mental illness, advocates are certain that deaf people have a harder time than other people getting treatment because of the communication difficulties.
Mental health experts say they believe the Wisconsin School for the Deaf is engaged in groundbreaking work on educational tools that could be used nationally. Founded in the 1850s, the Delavan school serves about 140 preschool to high school students, most of whom live in dormitories on campus. The school has sports teams and other extracurricular activities, as well as many kinds of therapy and other programs.
Screening for Mental Health Inc., an East Coast-based nonprofit organization, plans to promote the school's curriculum and videos to other deaf schools throughout the country.
"I thought it was an important project. We're thrilled to be a part of it," said Sharon Pigeon, the organization's director of planning and development.
They live in a world of silence and sometimes isolation. It can be aggravating, maddening and even tormenting.
Courtney Gunville knows well the frustrations of being deaf.
The cheerful 19-year-old college freshman was born deaf. She has experienced the anxiety of feeling alone in a roomful of people.
In 2003, Gunville watched a deaf friend slip into such despair that the friend committed suicide.
Both were students at the Wisconsin School for the Deaf. So when Gunville learned that the school was launching a suicide prevention program, she was eager to help.
The Walworth County school is using a federal grant to help finance a groundbreaking program that will teach students, their parents and mental health professionals how to recognize and cope with deaf people who are suicidal.
"I know there are deaf people who feel that way," Gunville said through an interpreter. "You don't want to see anyone else go down that road."
Deborah Tillman saw early warning signs in her son, Joshua, who also attended the Wisconsin School for the Deaf.
As a young child, Joshua began acting paranoid because he saw people talking and laughing, and he worried that they were talking about him. Temper tantrums soon followed.
Tillman not only found a mental health professional who was able to help, she also learned sign language so she could stay connected with her son.
If families lack communication with their deaf children, she said, the problems can get much worse.
"Just imagine never being able to have a conversation with your family," she said. "That's why they need mental health services - their souls are broken."
Officials at the Wisconsin School for the Deaf are confronting the problem in many ways, using money from a federal grant that is targeting youth suicide throughout Wisconsin.
School officials have developed a six-hour course to teach mental health counselors and other professionals how to understand - and help - deaf people.
Next up is a video instructing deaf students to watch for signs of mental illness. And the school is considering another video to show parents how to be stronger advocates for deaf children who need mental health treatment.
Christina Dean, who is coordinating the school's efforts, said administrators have been shocked to see mental health counselors who never exchange a word with their deaf patients, either because the counselors do not know sign language or because they have no translator.
"It blows us away," Dean said.
Although there is little scientific research on whether deafness contributes to an increased risk of mental illness, advocates are certain that deaf people have a harder time than other people getting treatment because of the communication difficulties.
Mental health experts say they believe the Wisconsin School for the Deaf is engaged in groundbreaking work on educational tools that could be used nationally. Founded in the 1850s, the Delavan school serves about 140 preschool to high school students, most of whom live in dormitories on campus. The school has sports teams and other extracurricular activities, as well as many kinds of therapy and other programs.
Screening for Mental Health Inc., an East Coast-based nonprofit organization, plans to promote the school's curriculum and videos to other deaf schools throughout the country.
"I thought it was an important project. We're thrilled to be a part of it," said Sharon Pigeon, the organization's director of planning and development.
