EXPANDING HORIZONS

Thanks to a new TTY phone at the high school -- donated by the local Telephone Pioneers -- Misty Broshius can talk to the rest of the world.

Misty Broshuis has always compensated for her loss of hearing by sharpening her other senses. But it always had been a challenge for her to communicate at a distance.

Although she can't hear the bells ring to signal a class change, "her eyes catch when somebody moves," said Sue Rhodes, her interpreter.

Speaking in sign language hasn't hindered any friendships or communication for Broshuis. Most of her friends and relatives know enough sign language to express everyday things, she said.

Now Broshuis, 18, has a chance to talk to the rest of the world through a teletype or TTY phone at the high school.

Until this year, she had depended on the help of interpreters like Rhodes, who attend all Broshuis' classes at the Cape Girardeau Vocational-Technical School and Delta High School.

Instead of using a keypad of numbers, the phone uses a keyboard. If Broshuis is calling a hearing person, a relay service interprets what she types into words that the other person hears.

But the service isn't the same as speaking directly. There are delays while the words are translated from type to sound and the voices aren't always correct in gender.

When Rhodes used a relay system to call her nephew who is deaf, the relay assistant was a woman. Rhodes heard a woman's voice speak the words her nephew had typed.

The TTY phone at Delta High School was donated by a volunteer group at Southwestern Bell Telephone after Mary Ann Tierney, special education director for the district, inquired about purchasing one.

"I called about renting or buying one for her," Tierney said. "And they said `We'll give it to you." The Telephone Pioneers donated the TTY phone to the school district for the entire time that Broshuis is a student there.

The phone is required by the American with Disabilities Act. It is most often used in emergencies, said High School Principal Nate Crowden.

There are a lot more possibilities and opportunities for special education students now, Tierney said. "Down the road, we hope there is technology for the students with multiple handicaps."

The school district just purchased a handicapped bus for its students, she said.

Fourth-grader Norman Denny, who is legally blind, didn't have to purchase any new equipment to help his education. He was given a home computer through a grant funded by the Foundation for the Advancement of the Blind Inc.

His former teacher, Terri Kauffman, helped write the grant for Denny. "It was harder for him to have legible writing. This is faster and more accurate."

The computer uses a voice synthesis to help Denny complete his assignments. "They need to have access to media," Kauffman said. Denny reads large-print books, but other students have used Braille in the classroom.

"It needs to be the same task that has been given to the rest of the class," Kauffman said. If a teacher assigns a worksheet, then the visually-impaired student also should have a worksheet.

"It evens the field with the computer technology," she said. "The kids are able to participate more fully than ever before."