Matthew Muir: My Experience as a Deaf Student (BSL)

There was a part of me that felt slightly apprehensive about writing this article, but that is because, for some, it might not make for comfortable reading.

Throughout my primary and secondary education, the support I received was second-to-none and without it, I wouldn’t be the person I am today.

However, since starting my HND journalism course at City of Glasgow College last August, my support has been inconsistent.

My learning support plan consists of support workers being assigned to take notes for my classes when needed. This allows me to focus on my lectures’ lip pattern and ensures that I don’t miss out on vital information.

I appreciate the fantastic work that the Learning Support at the college do, but when I feel, at times, it is having a detrimental impact on my education- that’s different.

A recent example was in my Video Journalism class and I was practising my editing skills. It is difficult for me to hear sound through headphones, so, a support worker would wear them to help me check sound levels or delete unnecessary pauses in the recording.

However, in this situation, they didn’t turn up, which meant I had to use my lipreading skills to make out my interviewee in order to piece the video together.

Let’s remember, it is a well-known fact that only an estimated 30-40% of speech sounds can be interpreted through lip reading.

This hasn’t been a one-off, it is recurring with some weeks more frequent than others. When I returned for my second-year after the summer, I had no support for the first two weeks.

I sent an email enquiring into the reason and received a reply sending their apologies, but that they did not know I was a returning student. My journalism course runs for two years and if there was a process to confirm that my support would continue after my first year, I wasn’t aware of it.

There have also been occasions where support workers have arrived 30 minutes late, at which point my lecturer has already explained important details to the class. That immediately puts me at a disadvantage.

I have never let my deafness stand in my way and always strive to break through any barrier, but that’s not always easier said than done, especially when you are not receiving the support you are entitled to on a regular basis.

What is constantly at the back of your mind is, are they [the support worker] going to turn up? Do I have to email, yet again, asking why I am not getting support? I have an assessment coming up, but I don’t have enough notes to refer back to. It can be deflating and mentally draining.

On top of being a full time student, this is an issue and an additional responsibility I have had to deal with- and it is frustrating. You can’t help but feel as if your falling through the cracks.

There are probably other deaf students that can relate to this article and although we all have our different experiences, we are in the same boat. But, why should we have to be?

People may be wondering why I have decided to give an insight into my experience. The answer is simple, to highlight the fractures in the education support system and the barriers deaf students face.

Editor’s note: In response to a request for comment, a City of Glasgow College spokesperson said:

“City of Glasgow College is committed to equality of access to education – indeed Equality, Diversity and Inclusiveness are some of our key organisational values. One of our primary strategic priorities is to enable students to excel and realise their full potential. To help facilitate this we have an established Learning Support Team to provide support to students with a Disability or Additional Support Needs.

Prior to enrolment we invite students to tell us about their support needs. Once we have that information, we set up an assessment meeting to agree support required. However, in August 2022 after two years of restrictions related to COVID-19 we experienced some challenges in returning to normal course delivery and we apologise to Matthew if this impacted his time at college.

We remain fully committed to improving the experience of students with a Disability or Additional Support Needs. We have reached out to Matthew to open a dialogue around improving access to support to enhance the learning experience for both him and the students that follow.

We look forward to beginning these discussions in the coming days.”

Matthew Muir is a journalism student at City of Glasgow College and is moderately-severely deaf. He is Sports Editor of the college’s student website, City Live and reports for Clyde Football Club. Matthew can be found via. Twitter.