Signing Sports Sounds: Improving Accessibility in Athletics for Deaf Students

Presenter: Rachel Tawney Toth

Faculty Sponsor: Ellen Correa

School: UMass Amherst

Research Area: Disability Studies

Session: Poster Session 1, 10:30 AM - 11:15 AM, Auditorium, A15

ABSTRACT

The accessibility of group sports for deaf children is extremely limited. Sound cues such as whistles and buzzers are specifically made for hearing athletes and leave deaf athletes at a great disadvantage. While replacing sound cues with visual cues is useful, educating referees and other stakeholders has proved more effective in providing access to deaf athletes. Through the education of deaf culture and communication, hearing stakeholders in sports can provide more access to the deaf athletes they encounter. My critical civic engagement project will provide a resource for the hearing referees that work sporting events at Rhode Island School for the Deaf (RISD). By creating a video teaching referees useful signs to use during RISD games, deaf athletes will be able to participate at a level comparable to hearing opponents, thereby increasing access to the sport, as well as improving the participation and enjoyment of deaf spectators. Crossing language barriers in this way will help address the inequities deaf students face participating in team sports.

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