Independent Studies
Doreen Siu, a fourth-year undergraduate student studying the academic aspects of being deaf or hard of hearing, teaches an American Sign Language (ASL) class through Independent Studies. The sign-language students consider Doreen’s classes to be well thought out and informative, and they enable many people in the hearing community to communicate with members of the Deaf community. Doreen founded the Talking Hands club on campus in order to offer free ASL lessons to those wishing to learn. The mandate of the club is “to break down communication barriers between hearing and non-hearing students”
Doreen’s dedication, passion, desire to share knowledge, and incredible patience is evident to her students. A colleague says that “Ms Siu manages to present the rules of grammar, pronunciation, cultural references, and nuances of etiquette in a way that allows the student to seamlessly absorb the information.” Her extra “silent” excursions after classes and on weekends, such as the trip to the School for the Deaf in Milton, have been an integral part of her students’ advancement in ASL. Doreen is seen as tireless in her efforts to create fun and informative games, activities and theatrical productions. One group project was to perform The Three Pigs in ASL! A student summarized Doreen’s teaching as thus “Her sense of humour, enthusiasm, and gentle approach to teaching hold her in a position of respect among her students, and her commitment to excellence is evident in the level of skill that we all possess.”