Keywords: people with disabilities, deaf athlete, deaf, hearing-impaired, Towson University, Division I college football, Division I college athletics, Americans with Disabilities Act, college football, college
Ryan Bonheyo, a star running back and linebacker for the Maryland School for the Deaf, has accepted a full scholarship to play Division I college football for Towson University outside of Baltimore, reports The Washington Post. He is one of the few deaf athletes ever to receive a scholarship to play college football.
"I'm just glad to have an opportunity to play at a college level," Bonheyo told The Washington Post. "It's a lifelong dream--get that equal-rights thing going."
Since the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 was passed, scholarships for deaf athletes have averaged less than one per year, according to the USA Deaf Sports Federation. Only a few deaf football players have played on top-level NCAA teams, according to the Post.
One of the reasons Bonheyo chose Towson was that the school offered interpreters in the classroom and for football practices and games. Bonheyo is expected to start out playing defense, although he was a two-way star in high school, because hand signals can be easily used to convey defensive formations to players.
Click here to read the full story and see video in The Washington Post.
Click here to read "'But You Look So Good!' and 7 Other Things NOT to Say to a Person With a Non-Visible Disability" on DiversityInc.com.
