The Power of Communication- Pt.1, ECISD Regional Day School Program For The Deaf offers an opportunity for those who are deaf or have trouble hearing

ODESSA, Texas (KOSA) - 6.1 percent or 466 million people across the world are either deaf or have trouble hearing. While that number may seem large it is not something we think about every day.

For some students when walking the halls, the only thing they hear are dozens of random conversations.

But for other students, the walk-in between classes is much quieter or even more silent because all they can do is try to read faces.

“But seeing someone’s face reading their lips you know seeing their facial expression it closes in the gaps a little bit. It’s not one hundred percent of course even if you have lip reading or even have hearing aid devices it’s still not one hundred percent but it does help hearing a lot more. That’s why it’s so important for people who are talking to a deaf person to face them so they can understand what you’re saying” said Andrea Carrillo, Senior at OHS

For the last 15 years, Andrea Carillo has been a part of the Regional Day School Program For The Deaf in ECISD.

Over those 15 years it has been a struggle for Andrea but and her family.

“To be honest it was really difficult. It was very difficult but once we started learning about The Deaf Education program that Andrea is involved in and once we started just seeing her grow and seeing her develop and seeing her language develop we knew it wasn’t the end of the world” said Norma Carrillo, Andrea’s Mom

The ECISD Regional Day School Program For The Deaf offers an opportunity to families that aren’t offered anywhere else in West Texas.

“We have 21 school districts as part of our ship service arrangement and we have students who come from them who need sign language. If they’re sign language independent they come here, if they’re not sign language dependent but they need our services we send teachers over there” said Rakia Musa Rakia Musa, ECISD Director of the Regional DaySchool Program For The Deaf

Currently, there are 50 students enrolled at the school. The program is offered to 21 school districts and has students currently enrolled in Crane, Andrews, Fort Stockton, Monahans, Big Spring, and Big Lake.

ECISD Regional Day School Program For The Deaf starts with children from birth up to 22 years old and teaches them American Sign Language.

But it doesn’t just stop there. They assist families that have children who are deaf or have trouble hearing.

“Anything you need you call and they help you out not only that but they get families together where if they need help they can call you. The way we took it was hard but some other people have seen that they took it a lot harder so it helps with the program that they reach out to everybody” said Gerardo Carrillo, Andrea’s Dad

Andrea is in her senior year at OHS and after graduation plans on attending Odessa College before going off to get her bachelor’s to work in the medical field.

Andrea for the last two years has competed with her school band playing the guitar.

For a person without hearing issues playing an instrument is normal they can hear when something isn’t right or when the instrument is out of tune. Andrea has to rely on other tools.

Despite those challenges, Andrea has not let any of them stop her from accomplishing her music goals.

“Being able to challenge me has been a really good experience for me especially since I have a hard time hearing music I still challenge myself every day through it” said Carrillo

While she thrives on musical challenges the everyday challenges of being a part of the deaf community are never-ending.

“Not a lot of people are aware of deaf people. If they find out they’re deaf oh you’re deaf? So it’s a lack of awareness just allows for a lack of resources for deaf people” said Carrillo

Andrea says that she wants people who interact with deaf a person to know that it’s nothing to avoid or be scared of because of the trouble of communication.

Learning the basics of sign language like the ABC or even writing things down or typing out goes a long way with communication.

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