For Kansas University senior Susie Stephenson it was about her older brother Scott.

When he was in second grade, a teacher told his mother he probably would never learn how to do math or read because he was deaf.

“That frustrated her, that people always underestimate the abilities of deaf people,” Stephenson said. “I want to go in and teach people they can add, subtract, read and write. I want to break those stereotypes.”

When Stephenson graduates Sunday from Kansas University, it will be the first step toward a career in audiology designed to help deaf people like her brother adapt to the world – and to help the world adapt to them.

After receiving her bachelor’s degree in speech-language-hearing, she’ll head this fall to the KU Medical Center for graduate work in audiology.

Stephenson’s goal is to work with families of deaf children to help them make decisions on issues such as whether to use hearing aids and what signing system – if any – to use. Some deaf people choose to read lips instead.

“The basis of our lives is to be able to communicate,” Stephenson said. “When you have difficulty doing that, you have difficulty being a real human – whether it’s in academics, your social life, your family life or your occupation.”

Stephenson’s family learned about that difficulty firsthand when Scott was born. Nobody knows for sure why he was born deaf.

Stephenson, now 21, grew up speaking with her parents and communicating with her brother in Signing Exact English, a system that is used by some instead of American Sign Language.

Susie Stephenson, a Kansas University senior who went into the field of audiology because her older brother is deaf, also signs for KU students in classes on campus. She will walk down Campanile Hill with thousands of other graduating KU seniors Sunday to get her degree in speech-language-hearing.

During college, she worked 10 hours a week as a sign language interpreter at KU, following deaf students to their classes to help them understand lectures.

Stephenson, who is from Goddard, said she initially shied from a career as an audiologist because her family was so actively involved in deaf issues.

“But what I found is it’s what I’m most passionate about,” she said.

Her insight makes her an instant expert in classes dealing with the deaf community, said Sarah Hargus Ferguson, an assistant professor of speech-language-hearing and Stephenson’s adviser at KU.

“She already has the inside view of how helpful (audiology) can be to people,” Ferguson said. “She has more of an insight into the deaf culture and interpreting than a lot of people in our field have.”

Patrice Stephenson, Susie’s mother and an instructor at Wichita State University’s sign language interpreter program, said her family could have benefited from more information when Scott was a child.

“It’s very overwhelming for parents now; there’s so much to know,” Patrice Stephenson said. “You have to make decisions early or you could miss opportunities for language development.”

Scott Stephenson, who is married, lives in Lyons and works at Wal-Mart, said he was especially proud his sister decided to pursue audiology, in part, because of his experiences.

“Susie is a great person and is very caring, and that is something that is good to have in any job that involves working with people,” he said in an e-mail interview. “I believe she has a gift that will really benefit this field.”