When Devin Ghaness stands up from his chair, he may only be able to stay on his feet for six seconds. Ghaness, a public speaking teaching assistant at Florida Atlantic University is physically disabled by the congenital disorder Cerebral Palsy, causing his brain to not send signals to his body quickly enough for movement.

His disability is more than just not being able to walk without assistance from his walker, Ghaness explains. It also includes the added struggle of completing everyday tasks due to impaired motor skills, as one of his hands is affected. More than that, he says the battle is constantly feeling isolated and undermined by society. And the list goes on. 

More than what people see on the surface, Ghaness says some days it’s hard to get out of bed and every step he takes is filled with pain. But what drives him is his desire to connect with others and teach. In his public speaking class, SPC 2608, he uses his experience as a former stand-up comedian to do just that.

To Ghaness, the classroom mirrors his time in comedy night clubs, where he has the opportunity to lighten someone’s day with a laugh — even if he roasts himself. His objective isn’t focused on letter grades but on building a community where students not only feel compelled to come to class but are also comfortable discussing difficult topics like death and learning to speak through discomfort.

“I’m finally now starting to realize what it means to be a supportive figure in a person’s life,” he said. “And, you know, as a comedian, you always want to be in the spotlight, in the forefront of everything; sometimes it’s not what society needs and that’s not what we need as individuals. And I think that tendency to kind of veer into these egotistical traits is what’s making us so disconnected as a society.”

Growing up in Boynton Beach, Ghaness was always the kid screaming in the grocery store to the class clown in middle school. Beyond using voice to get attention, he sees humor as a tool to bring people together.

From a young age, Ghaness‘ parents had his intelligence quotient tested, and the results showed he had far greater capabilities than they had initially thought. Despite coming from a low-income family, Ghaness learned the value of hard work. He also mentioned that his mother, a teacher, would spend extra hours working with him outside of school and he saw that as a privilege.

“So what does that do? It puts you in a box where people still have this idea that a disabled person is supposed to look a certain way, and then you come and you break down those boundaries,” he said, noting how it can oppress other disabled people. 

Ghaness also feels the pressure, saying he “carries the weight” of the disabled community on his shoulders, as well as the Guyanese Indian community and all the other labels attached to him.

“Now it’s kind of like this weird thing where I have the weight of all these communities on my shoulders because if I can make it out and be something for myself, I have to remember, there are so many disabled people that don’t have this opportunity,” he said. 

He explains that after sealing the deal for a job interview, they would usually hit the button to the door after disclosing his disability. In and out of the university, he has often been viewed as a liability because of his disability. As he puts it, an employer sees him as a “walking lawsuit” if he falls on the job.

“And I think we build people up with disabilities, and then we throw them out into the real world,” he said. “And the real world is not like these protected institutions. That definitely happened with me, who’s a very high-functioning person. I had all the qualifications, I had all the skills, but the world does not like people with disabilities.”

To Ghaness, this is not just an issue at the workplace or university, but something that disabled people experience worldwide — from all levels of discrimination and marginalization. 

“You just have to overcompensate. Unfortunately, as a disabled person and even going through the institution I’ve been oppressed many times by people in power. And it’s not always easy,” he said. 

But Ghaness questions: Should society treat a disabled person differently?

“The answer in a utopian society should be ‘no,’ right? But the society is not built for me,” he answered, acknowledging that it’s a challenge to navigate this reality. It places him at an unfair disadvantage, while still forcing him to work harder than others.

Looking back to his time at the FAU, which began six years ago after graduating from Olympic Heights Community High School in Boca Raton. By earning college credits early through Advanced Placement courses in high school, he was able to shave a year off. As, he graduated with two undergraduate degrees in the spring of 2021: one double-majoring in English and Communication Studies, the other in Political Science. 

Although he excelled in his classes throughout high school and college, Ghaness always had a plan in the back of his mind to become a stand-up comedian.

“But I come from an Indian family, and they’re like, ‘That’s not gonna feed your children.’And I’m like, ‘Okay,’ so it was kind of like this agreement I made with my parents: do something that gives the illusion of being prestigious with the expectation of doing stand-up,” he said. 

In his undergraduate years, he was prominently involved as a consultant for the University Center for Excellence in Writing and the FAU Speaking Center by day. At night, he performed at local comedy clubs — on and off.

Ghaness used his academic studies as a foundation for his comedy skits: English taught him how words should flow in writing for stand-up; communication studies helped him understand how words are perceived and improved the performative side of his work; and political science influenced his politically and morally motivated humor.

“I always wanted to be a comedian that was viewing things in a more methodical, sharp kind of way,” Ghaness said, adding that his comedy skits meshed all his academic ideologies together, without locking himself in a box of limitations.

At one point in his stand-up career, he realized that his funny remarks often only got a strong reaction from people who were intoxicated at clubs. He was not satisfied and wanted to create a lasting impact by spreading his knowledge elsewhere. Near his graduation date, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the clubs to close temporarily. 

“I was like, ‘Well, I might as well just dive into academics until the clubs reopen,’ then I never went back to stand up,” he said. 

After a two-year gap, Ghaness is now back at FAU for his master’s in social work to later become a therapist.

One of his practical mentors since he was 19, Cynthia Carrico, vouched for him to get the teaching assistantship. As the graduate teaching assistant coordinator for all public speaking courses, Carrico says she was in need of a teacher at the time and immediately thought of Ghaness.  

As the director of the Speaking Center and his former undergraduate communications professor, she knew after working closely with him that he would be a suitable teacher for the course. 

At the time, he had just begun his education in social work and needed tuition assistance. She explains that a teaching assistant position is a four-semester award for graduates to help cover academic costs while, in return, working for the university by teaching a class.

Carrico mentioned that there is a stigma where society stereotypically assumes that individuals with neurodivergence or physical disabilities are not capable of teaching in higher education.

“It’s a rarity and so I think it’s important for persons in that position to teach, for others to see that they can do it as well,” she added, noting that Ghaness’ role as a teacher is valuable for representation of the disability community. 

Starting in fall 2023 and continuing into next spring, Carrico notes that Ghaness brings a touch of novelty to his teaching style by using Socratic learning to engage in dialogue and think critically. She also added that he makes a strong effort to motivate students and help them feel validated.

“He absorbs content and ideas like no one I have ever seen. He’s transparent in his teaching, which I love,” she said, adding that his teaching approach can sometimes go off the cuff with his comedic style to engage students.

After trial and error and refining his performance, she notes that his teaching now strikes a balance between his personality and professionalism, for which she gives him kudos.

This is why Ghaness sometimes finds himself in trouble with the university, he says but it’s also why people are drawn to him. His classroom is an open space where students can discuss suppressed emotions, creating an environment that aligns with the core values of social work. 

Ghaness’ approach also ties into the fundamentals of public speaking, where preparation is key before speaking a word. Last spring semester, FAU student Aaron Placide enrolled in his public speaking course and walked out not only as a better speaker, capable of conveying a message verbally but also as a better listener.

On the first day, it appeared as though there was no teacher present, as Ghaness sat disguised in the classroom among the students. Placide remarked that no one would have guessed that he was the teacher, and later surprised the class by identifying himself — changing the dynamic of the class. 

“So him not using his position to demean anybody or make them feel less than, made the classroom more comfortable,” Placide said, noting that Ghaness fostered the classroom environment by encouraging students to connect with their classmates outside of roll calls and presentations.

Ghaness questioned why society has normalized the term “trauma dumping,” making people feel they shouldn’t share emotions. Or terms like “toxic positivity” and “ghosting,” as he says are ways to protect oneself, even though they can hurt others. He noted that this is a step back from offering genuine guidance to others.

For Ghaness, this issue is rooted in how society is shaped. Rather than embracing emotion, society tends to frown upon those who display it. This is why he encourages both himself and his students to be vulnerable in class, aiming to break that normalized behavior.

“Every word that we say to other people and to ourselves is a butterfly effect, and quite literally, to me, words are a matter of life and death,” Ghaness said, referencing his sister Amrita who passed away during his gap from school in June 2021.

His sister was not only essentially his caregiver helping with daily tasks, stepping up while their parents were working full-time jobs to make ends meet. At the same time, she was his best friend and motivator.

“What happens when that person suddenly leaves your life? And then you have to start motivating yourself, and then you start asking, ‘Why am I doing any of this at all,’ which many of us don’t like to do because we live in a society that’s conditioned us to work, conditioned us to put things out,” he said. 

Nowhere in Ghaness’ mind did he ever think he’d become a teacher or go to school to be a therapist. But after his sister’s death, his life pivoted and he felt driven to continue her legacy in the mental health field. She had studied psychology at FAU, and this was the career path she had always encouraged him to pursue.

“Then she died, and I’m like, ‘Let me finish what she started, then after that, I can move on with my life.’ So right now, and I tell my students this every single time we start the course, I’m just fulfilling someone else’s dream right now,” he said. 

But Ghaness said that doesn’t mean he can’t fulfill his own dreams at the same time. 

He described himself as a “poster child for capitalism” and minorities with disabilities, noting that he had been focused on doing everything right and achieving as much as possible before his sister’s death. He reflected, thinking, “Would I trade it all for just an extra month with the people I love?”

“Sometimes the things we work for can be taken away in a second, and I don’t think we’ll even realize,” he said. “But when my sister died, everything I had worked for to that point felt stupid, insignificant and foolish. And people would look at that, especially people in the school of social work, and say, ‘That’s just a stage of grief,’ but it doesn’t actually address the issues that are being built on.”

Growing up with strict Hindu values, Ghaness said he is constantly reminded that death is real. In Eastern cultures, he paints a picture of attending up to ten funerals a year. Though death may seem frightening to some, Ghaness finds it inspiring.

He hopes to always be present, no matter the cards he’s dealt in life. For him, getting up in the morning is about embracing the journey for what it is by welcoming change, even when it’s uncomfortable — a value that is embraced in his belief of Buddhism.

“I feel like that’s where a lot of the things in our society come from, is we work for all these things and we kind of forget that we’re gonna die,” he said. “And for me, I wake up every morning and I remind myself that I’m going to die.”

Michael Cook is the News Editor for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected].