Deaf Awareness Week highlights resources and workforce programs for Missouri students with disabilities

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is marking Deaf Awareness Week by highlighting programs that help students with disabilities prepare for the workforce. In Courtney Kuehne’s classroom, learning looks different than in a typical classroom. Kuehne is a deaf and hard-of-hearing teacher at Holland Elementary in Springfield. “We in the DHH teachers, we are very, we make sure that they are included and that they are learning and they are involved in the school activities, the social opportunities,” Kuehne said. Kuehne said connecting students to resources they need is her passion. “Deaf people can do everything except hear. Second thing is Deaf people are successful and like, oh, they’re an inspiration. If you provide the support and everything and accommodations that they need, they will be successful,” Kuehne said. DESE’s vocational rehabilitation program focuses on preparing Missourians with disabilities for the workplace and helping them advance once employed. Michelle Willenbrock, who is deaf, works in the program and said she is able to offer a different perspective. She said one of the more recent advancements she has seen that helps deaf people in the workplace is new technology and increased advocacy for it. “We have come a long way with that. So, examples of assistive technology, like might be captions that we have here, and real-time closed captioning, where a court reporter can come into the classroom or into a workplace. Also, a new feature that we have taught now, which we started, is sign glasses, which is kind of like a virtual interpreting feature,” Willenbrock said. To report a correction or typo, please email [email protected]. Please include the article info in the subject line of the email. Copyright 2026 KY3. All rights reserved.