Featured Person: Steven Mayers

Name: Steven Mayers

Age: 54

Disability: Deaf & partly visually impaired

Program Countries: England, Scotland, France, Italy, Greece

Program Length: 6 weeks

Program Type: Language study (Foreign sign languages)

About Me: I was born deaf and use a cochlear implant. For 2 years, I have been a certified sign language teacher and am currently teaching ASL classes at few local community centers.

I have traveled to several countries including Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, England and Scotland. Through my travels, I have met many deaf Europeans and have learned about their countries' deaf cultures. I enjoy studying foreign sign languages as well as teaching American Sign Language.

Was your international exchange experience arranged through an exchange organization? If so, what was the application process like?

Last summer, I enrolled in the Siena School for the Liberal Arts in Siena, Italy to study Italian Deaf Culture & History and Italian Sign Language for two weeks in a very hot, sultry climate. I passed this entire program very well with good grades, but the highlight of my Italian experience was meeting deaf Italians and discovering their native sign language methods.

I returned to Europe this year, but I did not arrange to go through an exchange program. My objective was to independently explore my new worldly cultural experiences in Europe and to learn about the deaf cultures and native European sign languages.  I am very interested and highly motivated about learning the basic levels of European sign languages and the understanding of their deaf cultures.  I, in turn, taught many deaf people basic levels of American Sign Languages.

If you received any scholarships, stipends, or other funding for your exchange, who provided them?

I used my own funds to pay for all expenses on my educational trip.

What were your concerns as you prepared to travel? What kinds of resources did you use to address these concerns (website, advisor, book, etc)?

For several months, I had researched my exchange by visiting a variety of deaf and sign language-related websites.  I made contacts with several deaf agencies and foreign sign language schools in Europe, although sometimes communication was difficult.

What was your experience living in the host country? Please share your impressions of housing, transportation, activities, cultural attitudes towards disability, and your strategies for navigating abroad.

I spent six weeks in European countries, including Italy, Scotland and England, where I visited deaf agencies. In Athens, Greece, I visited the Greek Sign Language school and observed the classroom where the hearing people studied Greek Sign Language. Unfortunately, I was unable to visit the deaf school due to my departure flight for Rome, but thankfully while in Rome, I visited the Italian Sign Language school and observed the classroom for the hearing students and met some deaf people at a club social event. In Siena, Italy, I stopped by the Siena School in its new location and greeted the staff with a warm reception. In Paris, France, I visited a well-known deaf school and demonstrated the ASL method in front of one of the classrooms. The school has an interesting program which allows deaf immigrants to learn the French language and French sign language in a specialized classroom.

In each country I visited, I generally stayed in low-cost hostels, but was occasionally invited to stay with people I met, including a deaf person in London, and a special education teacher in Scotland.  

To get around Europe, I took taxis, used public transit systems and accepted rides from friends. Once in Santorini, Greece, I rented a low-cost, small car for my own island-wide tour because of its very limited, poor public transit system.

I used my time in Europe to attend a few deaf cultural events in certain cities and even went to a deaf soccer tournament in Paris.  I enjoyed having nice meals with my friends and some deaf people everywhere I went. To communicate with deaf people, I used native sign languages, and to communicate with hearing people, I employed written paper methods, although they often had limited English abilities.

If you used assistive devices or service animals during your exchange program, were they helpful to you in your new environment? Did you use any new assistive devices that you had never used in your home country? 

I have been using a cochlear implant since 2004, which helped me identify different kinds of environmental sounds, musical sounds, and emergency sirens.

What were the benefits of the experience, and how has your international experience informed your future plans?

I want to apply my cultural teaching experiences in Europe towards the study of the enlargement of native European sign languages.  In addition, I want to teach American Sign Language in the classrooms along with deaf European people in the near future.  If I have the chance to go back to Europe again next year, I would like to further my education there.

Do you have an exchange or disability-related question for Steven? Email clearinghouse@miusa.org to contact him about his experiences.

Visit our "Featured People" page to meet other international exchange alum.