Tom Stevenson

No communication student can escape the one thing that melts some folks to butter: the dreaded public speaking class. But one former student figures that if he can do it, anyone can.

That’s because he’s deaf.

At 16, Tom Stevenson’s doctors told him he’d lose all his hearing. And Tom had it tough already. He spent years in hospital beds while doctors reconstructed his mouth and lips, adjusting a palate that was malformed at birth. Many surgeries followed intensive speech therapy so he could learn to speak.

While most kids never think about how to form words in their mouths, Tom spent hours each day just learning to talk. As his hearing faded Tom became adept at lip-reading the words he could scarcely hear.

Equipped with lip reading skills and an iron will, Tom became a writer and reporter before deciding to get his bachelor’s degree at Portland State. While taking communication classes he discovered a knack for teaching. Tom offered to help his professors any way he could: coaching students with their writing and running errands for professors so he could be close to teaching. But his real love was public speaking and the power to “tell a story.”

Tom figured the only way he could teach would be to apply for one of the positions as a graduate student teacher in the Communication Department. His first application was rejected, but Tom persisted. In his second year, Prof. Susan Poulsen offered him a trial period, and soon after, Tom got to teach his own class.

With the help of real-time captioning—a machine that transfers transcriptions to a laptop—and an expert captioner who types at lightning speed, Tom could read conversations on the laptop while reading lips and successfully manage a classroom. Tom became one of the most beloved graduate teachers in the Department. “I have a box of letters from students,” he beams. One reason students adore Tom is that he believes in them. “Everyone has a voice within them that carries a message they want heard.” Tom encourages students to lift their voices.

“Like I said, if I can do it, anyone can.”

While putting the polishing touches on his graduate project, Tom discovered that a new medical procedure using cochlear implants could restore his hearing. Over the last ix months Tom had surgeries on both ears, regaining his hearing. “It’s incredible: I went from total deafness to normal hearing,” he says.

“All I could do is cry!”

Tom is taking a hiatus this year to get adjusted to his new hearing and have a complete facial/nasal reconstruction surgery designed to alleviate the last of his problems related to his birth defects. He will always keep teaching in his professional plans and close to his heart. His goal? “I want to let people tell their stories.”

Story and photo by Melissa Shavlik