Deaf & Hard-of-Hearing Academy

Rob Roth, AccessComputing staff
Picture of students and staff around a robotic arm.
Students from the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Academy attend a presentation at Intel Research Labs.


Ten bright deaf and hard-of-hearing students from around the country gathered at the UW Seattle campus on June 18th for the 2009 Summer Academy for Advancing Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Computing, a nine-week academically challenging program designed to increase student experience, knowledge, and interest in computing as a career, in industry or academia. Students are taking a certificated course in animation and computing courses in JavaScript, Java programming, or data structures. They go on field trips to software companies such as Adobe, Google, Microsoft, and Valve, and meet deaf or hard of hearing computing professionals. They are joined by two returning students who are participating as teaching assistants in animation classes and taking a Java computer programming course. Students accepted into the Summer Academy are awarded tuition, room and board, and transportation to Seattle at no cost, thanks to funding from the National Science Foundation. More information on this program can be found at www.washington.edu/accesscomputing/dhh/academy/index.html.