Alumni Working With Deaf Herald Liberal Arts, American Sign Language Program

The value of a liberal arts education and the importance of exposure to the Deaf community were the experiences that the members of the American Sign Language Career Panel highlighted as key to their success.

The event, which took place on April 2 in the Hogan Campus Center, brought five Holy Cross graduates back to the Hill to talk about their post-graduation experiences and how their participation in the deaf studies program has helped them.

“We wanted to see how alums incorporated ASL into careers,” says Ilse Willems ’10, ASL Club secretary and organizer of the event.

Kathleen Curatolo ’02 Following a three-and-a-half year tour in the Navy, the political science and Naval Science double major earned her master’s degree in speech-language pathology from Gallaudet University.

Now a speech-language pathologist for the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association in Washington, D.C., Curatolo helps adults who have suffered a neurological injury and subsequent loss of hearing improve their speech and pronunciation. In some cases, she must travel to their places of employment and make the environments accessible in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

She credited her professional development to early hands-on experiences at Holy Cross, such as volunteering at The Learning Center for the Deaf in Framingham, Mass.

Casey Spencer ’06 Now a teacher at The Learning Center, Spencer designed her own major in literacy in deaf education at Holy Cross, and went on to earn her master’s degree in education, specializing in deaf education from Boston University.

Spencer emphasized how her undergraduate exposure to a variety of fields has enabled her to teach various types of classes. Though her primary department is English literature, she also teaches language arts and filmmaking.

“You should take classes in anything you’re even remotely interested in,” she advised the audience. “My background in liberal arts is what allows me to help these kids in all of their subjects.”

Melissa Barys ’06 An experience teaching ASL to children during the Storytelling at Worcester Library volunteer program helped a psychology major find her calling.

“It was the best thing I had ever seen in my entire life,” Barys said. “I saw how great ASL was for kids because it got them to pay attention and it stimulated them.”

Following her graduation, Barys cultivated her interest in early education as a preschool teacher, during which she spent an hour each day teaching her students ASL. The positive results encouraged Barys to form her own company, Sign Along!, which teaches sign language to hearing children between the ages of six months and six years. Barys currently works as an instructor for babies and toddlers at her Wakefield-based organization.

“If you’re at all interested in early childhood or special education, I would strongly recommend that you have a background in ASL,” Barys said.

Karen Hadlock Putney ’00 An avid member of the deaf studies program while at Holy Cross, Putney is now staff interpreter for the Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Dorchester.

Following her graduation, the math major earned her certificate as an ASL interpreter from Northern Essex Community College in 2004. In her work, she must visit a variety of professional environments, and says her Holy Cross academic experience has been essential to developing her ability to adapt.

“A liberal arts education gave me knowledge in every area, and Deaf people are working in every field you can imagine,” she said. “And I feel comfortable going into a variety of settings and interpreting for them.”

Melissa Phair ’99 After earning her master’s degree in social work, specializing in Deaf and hard of hearing populations, from Gallaudet University, Phair had a series of internships before becoming a permanent teacher at Newton North High School in Newtonville.

As lead interpreter for the EDCO Program for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Phair spends much of her time facilitating discussions with and tutoring her high school students. She attributed her familiarity with various subjects to her undergraduate liberal arts education.

“I’ve experienced so many different fields at Holy Cross that I can help kids with their math and their science even though it’s not my particular area of expertise,” she said.

Judy Freedman Fask, director of the deaf studies program at Holy Cross, said the ASL Club spearheaded and organized the event, contacting alumnae with the help of John Winters, director of Career Planning at Holy Cross, to contact the alumnae.

“It’s such a thrill to see the impact that ASL has had on these former students and the impact that they, in turn, have on the community,” Fask said. “I think they prove that the deaf studies program is about expanding students’ abilities, not limiting them.”

By Anthony Curotto ’09

Related Information:

• American Sign Language/Deaf Studies