From: Phil deHaan (dehp@calvin.edu)
Date: Wed Nov 13 2002 - 16:41:38 EST
November 13, 2002 == FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Making the transition from high school to college is often tough. Making it
with essentially no hearing is even tougher. But, for first-year Calvin student
Nathaniel Veltman, a solid support system is making his first semester in Grand
Rapids a good one.
Veltman, a native of Cochrane, Ontario, began losing his hearing when he was
about five years old. He now is completely deaf in his left ear and has about
25 to 30 percent of normal hearing capacity in his right ear.
So how is he adjusting to life at Calvin? He has some significant strategies,
tricks he's honed over the years plus assistance in several key areas from
Calvin.
For one, Veltman relies on reading lips to understand people. But he is an
auditory learner, meaning he learns best by hearing things spoken. So, he sits
in the front row in every class at Calvin to be sure he can read the professor's
lips. But, he also gives each of his professors a portable microphone that they
wear around their necks. It has a wireless connection to his hearing aid and he
can adjust the volume with a remote he always keeps in his pocket. The volume
control comes in handy; occasionally Veltman has picked up the hungry growl of a
professor's stomach.
Veltman also works closely with Calvin's Karen Broekstra, who works with
students with disabilities. They touch base regularly through both e-mail and
face-to-face meetings to discuss how classes are going, what solutions are
working and where different strategies could be implemented.
Residence hall life poses other challenges. To supplement the fire alarm,
which he might not hear, Calvin has installed a blinking strobe light in
Veltman's room. And to make sure he gets to class on time he has a special
vibrating alarm clock under his pillow to shake him out of bed.
While it helps to have his twin brother Ben (who is not hearing-impaired) as
his roommate, Veltman says social situations can still be hard to deal with.
"It's harder to talk with people in groups, because they go back and forth
really fast," he says. Sometimes people don't want to take the time to
understand him, or even if they do, they're not sure how to act.
Veltman says it's actually pretty simple: have only one person talk at once,
pronounce words clearly so he can read lips and be patient.
Veltman is being helped by Calvin financially, including being a recipient of
Calvin's Mephibosheth Scholarship. This award is made possible by an anonymous
grant from a Calvin alumnus who was disabled. The name of the scholarship
refers to a grandson of King Saul who was crippled in both feet, but who, says
the Old Testament's II Samuel, ate at the King's table.
Right now Veltman is planning to major in history and geography. When he's not
doing homework or working in the library, he enjoys reading and playing
basketball with his brothers (his brother Greg is a junior at Calvin) or with
his residence hall (his floor, Second Boer, recently won the dorm basketball
tournament). He also likes listening to music on his CD player, which he can
attach directly to his hearing aid. "Everyone else has to wear those big
headphones," he says with a smile.
~with reporting by media relations student writer Abe Huyser-Honig
-end-
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