Deaf teenager finds niche working concession stand at westernPennsylvania swimming pool
Deaf teenager finds niche working concession stand at western Pennsylvaniaswimming poolSANDY MARWICK Butler EaglePosted: July 16, 2010 at 11:39 am, Updated: July 16, 2010 at 11:39 amBUTLER, Pa. – Like most concession workers, the teens at the SEBCO Poolprepare foods, count change and speed up production when lines get long.They also have learned there are multiple to ways to order cheese sticks.”You put your two fists together, then pull them (apart) in oppositedirections,” said 14-year-old Patricia Pivaronis, on staff at the pool onHannahstown Road.The gestures help Pivaronis and others communicate with Alec Lindsey, 14,who also works in the concession, where an American Sign Language handbooksits on the counter, and laminated photo cards hang outside. Customers passthe cards through the order window to request Skittles, Mountain Dew andother delights.”He normally takes orders,” Pivaronis said Tuesday of Alec, explaining howworkers already have learned sign language for funnel cakes, nachos andother cooked foods at the pool.With those rudimentary skills in place, the workers can communicate betweenthe counter and the cooking area regardless of who is stationed where.The ASL book also comes in handy as some customers express an interest intalking to Alec beyond what the laminated photos allow. And the talk is notunwelcome.”He likes the social part of the job that he can talk to people,” said hismother Kate of Winfield Township, translating Alec’s answers from ASL whenasked about his favorite tasks.”Yes. I was surprised,” he responded to a question about the job offer. “Ithought this job was for hearing people that they would never pick me.”Pool manager Kim Wetzel said SEBCO offered Alec the job partly because manyof her previous concession workers had advanced to become lifeguards orjunior lifeguards, with Alec’s older brother Ian among them.”I said to his mom, Do you think he can do this?” Wetzel recalled. “Shesaid, Well, he cooks at home and he can count.”Wetzel and board member Lynn Turner addressed Alec’s deafness byphotographing all items sold at the concession, then laminating the imageswith equipment used to make membership cards.A sign on the building instructs customers on use of the cards, which aregrouped by category.Although employment is open to any eligible teenager who applies for a jobat the pool, Turner said many teens apply as a result of being season passholders likely a holdover from years ago when the pool was a members-onlyfacility.Wetzel said many families still don’t realize the pool is public. Visitingthe pool since early childhood, Alec already was familiar with theconcession, which kept a notepad on hand to meet his needs as a customer.Now, the notepad has taken a back seat to other forms of talking.”It’s been working out really well,” Wetzel said, explaining her daughterKelsey, a concession volunteer, chats socially with Alec “the normal way”via texting.Kate Lindsey also has witnessed more social interaction for Alec, whoattends the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf.”It’s great. He can meet kids his age because he doesn’t go to school withthem,” Lindsey said.”I think a lot of the kids think it’s neat,” she added. “They’ve seen him atthe pool, but didn’t have a way to communicate with him.”A longtime member of the pool, Lindsey praised SEBCO for its small-town,community feel and the willingness to accommodate Alec’s deafness, caused bymeningitis in early childhood.”When you have a child with a disability, you constantly advocate for them,”Lindsey said. “(But) this is something I had nothing to do with and that’swhat I love,” she added. “You don’t run into that a lot anymore.”As for Alec, expanding his social network is but one benefit of working. Healso is earning a small paycheck by working the two- to three-hour shifts.Some of the earnings will go to savings, Alec stipulated.And the rest?”Video games,” he said
