Amazing Race's deaf contestant says hearing impairment an advantage

From The Gazette in Colorado:

When you don't speak the language, it doesn't much matter whether you can hear what people say.

That's the beauty of "The Amazing Race" for the show's first deaf contestant, Monument resident Luke Adams (pictured with his mother).

"I just figured, if people don't speak English, the other teams would be at the same disadvantage," Adams said as his mother and teammate on the show, Margie Adams, interpreted during a telephone interview.

Luke, 23, and Margie, 51, were one of 11 teams competing in the 14th season of the CBS reality show, in which two-person teams race from point-to-point and compete in challenges around the world. The new season, filmed in November, premieres Feb. 15.

Adams recently graduated from the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York with a degree in criminal justice. In 2003, he was his class valedictorian at the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind in Colorado Springs.

A longtime fan of the show, Adams applied four times before finally making the cut for this season.

"I started to think about applying when I was 16," Adams said. "When I saw the first show, I loved it - I wanted to be the first deaf person to do the race."

For Margie, finally getting on the show was exciting, but a little overwhelming.

"I was kind of, ‘Oh, what have I gotten myself into,'" Margie said. "I was a little bit worried I wouldn't be able to keep up."

After getting the news they'd made the show, the Adamses had only a month to prepare. They beefed up their quads hiking the Manitou Incline - which helped a lot, Margie said - and took a map reading class - which, surprisingly, didn't.

"We tried to prepare ourselves, but I'm not sure there was anything you can do to prepare yourself for that adventure," Margie said.

"It challenges you in ways you never expect to be challenged," Luke said. "It really gave us both some confidence."

The only time that Luke's deafness proved to be a major drawback was in the driving legs of the race, which require one team member to drive while the other person navigates from the back seat. That arrangement made it difficult to communicate through sign language.

"It's just a hard thing to do anyway," Margie said.

Most of the time, Luke's experience gesturing and conveying his meaning non-verbally proved to be a bonus on the show, Margie said.

"I think we had the advantage over the other teams," she said. "People were very, very willing to talk with us."