Working with Students Who Are Deaf or Hard Of Hearing

Effective, Inclusive Communication in the Classroom

1. Deaf and hearing-impaired students may require preferential seating; this accommodation is often essential to the student’s effective inclusion. Consult with the student about whether and how they wish you to facilitate if another student sits in their seat.
2. Speak clearly and naturally. Although excessively slow speech is not necessary, be conscious of the pace of the lecture. If the pace is too fast, an interpreter may need to stop you to clarify a word or a captionist may miss part of your lecture.
3. Talk directly to the student, not to the interpreter. For instance, look directly at the student and ask, "Do you have your assignment?" rather than saying to the interpreter "Does she have her assignment?"
4. Do not avoid references to hearing. Statements such as “I heard you were sick” or “Did you hear about the test” do not offend deaf students.
5. If an interpreter is present, allow him or her to stand or sit on one side of you, where the student can maintain eye contact both with you and with the interpreter.
6. Some students may rely on lip-reading. To facilitate their understanding, accentuate body language and facial expressions. Try not to speak while facing the blackboard and not to stand in harsh glaring light. Do not exaggerate and over-pronounce words; this distorts lip movements and makes lipreading more difficult. Be aware, however, that lip-reading is inexact and requires intuition and much guesswork.
7. To include deaf and hard of hearing students in class discussions, indicate who is speaking and repeat and clarify questions and comments. Repeating questions and comments from students distributed throughout the room before responding will be especially important for students who are hard of hearing, whether or not they use an assistive listening device.
8. During question-and-answer periods, allow time for deaf students to raise their hands and to ask questions through the interpreter. The interpreter will voice the questions to the instructor and class, and then sign the response back to the student.
9. In science labs, allow extra time for deaf students to find things you are pointing out. They will need to get the instructions from the interpreter or captionist, locate the materials, and then turn back for the rest of the discussion.
10. Write important instructions and vocabulary on the board as often as possible. But please remember not to speak as you are facing the board.
11. When showing films in class, request films with closed captions from the Audio-Visual Library. Request a video player with closed captioning or a caption decoder for Smart Classrooms from IT Equipment Scheduling.
12. Expect the same commitment of deaf and hearing impaired students as you do of other students. Do not disregard absences, lateness, or inattention. The interpreter will not discipline or remind students of their responsibilities.

The Role of Sign Language Interpreters

The interpreter's role is to make communication possible between the instructor or classmates and the deaf student. The interpreter will sign all spoken communication in the classroom and will voice questions and comments that the deaf student signs. A brief meeting between you, the interpreter, and the student before or after the first class meeting will be helpful in determining how you will work together. It is not the interpreter's responsibility to

• Remind students of test dates, appointments, etc.
• Take notes or explain information to students.
• Inform absent or late students of missed work.
• Ask questions that the student has not signed.
• Tutor the student.

Familiarity with subject matter will enhance the quality of the interpreted message. Arrange to meet with interpreters before or after the first class to share outlines, PowerPoint slides, texts, agenda, technical vocabulary, class syllabuses, and any other pertinent information. If your class has an online discussion group or makes use of electronic media, be sure to include interpreters on the electronic roster.

If you, the instructor, need to meet privately with a deaf student, the interpreter should attend the meeting. To maximize the likelihood an interpreter will be available, schedule meetings before or after your class. Please notify the student that you wish to meet with him or her at least 48 hours before the meeting is to take place, and remind the student to contact the Disability Services Center immediately to arrange for this service. Although we do our best to meet all requests for interpreters, a 48 hour advance notice is typically needed.

If the interpreter knows in advance that he/she will be absent, a substitute will be provided if possible. If no substitute can be found, the student may decide to attend class anyway to get handouts, information from the board, or notes from note-takers. Although this is not an ideal situation, do your best to communicate information to the deaf student.

If it is necessary to cancel a class for any reason, please notify Disability Services immediately, so that we can cancel the interpreting appointment. If we can notify the interpreter two days prior to the class meeting, the College can avoid paying the hourly fee for interpreter services and travel . Likewise, the student has an obligation to notify Disability Services of absences. Disability Services should always be the contact point for communication about faculty and student absences with the interpreting agency.

Cart Captioning

For some deaf and hard of hearing persons who do not use sign language, the auxiliary aid or service which a college or university may provide may be computer-aided real-time transcription, or CART services. A trained operator enters everything which is spoken in a class into a computer, which simultaneously transcribes this onto a computer screen for the deaf or hard of hearing student. The captionist will most frequently be in the classroom, but in some cases, a remote captionist may be employed.

Because the student cannot effectively watch the captions on a monitor while taking notes, the transcript of the captioning session may be provided to that student. Please note that this is for the deaf or hard of hearing student’s use only; it will not be distributed to faculty or other students.

Please observe the same notifications for class cancellations as those described for interpreters above. Depending upon the student’s level of hearing loss he or she may or may not require captioning for one-to-one meetings with faculty. If captioning is needed beyond the scheduled class time, the student is responsible for notifying Disability Services in advance.

Assistive Listening Devices

Students with a hearing impairment may need to utilize an assistive listening device (ALD) to amplify the instructor’s voice. Users may have a hearing aide, a cochlear implant, or none of the former. Typically, ALDs consist of a microphone unit and a receiver unit. The instructor will wear the microphone and the student the receiver. (Some newer models have only one unit,) If a student’s Letter of Accommodation indicates the necessity for an ADL you are required to wear the microphone unit if a separate one exists. This will amplify your voice only for the student using the receiver. The most common ALD used in classrooms of small to medium size are FM devices, which use radio signals to carry your amplified voice to the ear of the user.

Videos, Audio Recordings and Online Material

By federal law, all course materials (required and recommended) that contain information in audio form must be fully accessible to Deaf and hard of hearing students. “The person with a disability must be able to obtain the information as fully, equally, and independently as a person without a disability.” (Emphasis added.) Therefore, all media with audio content must be captioned in a timely fashion, so the material is available to Deaf and hard of hearing students at the same time as the rest of the class. Please note that this applies to internally-produced audio and video, including that produced by faculty and students. When selecting commercially-produced course materials, faculty should choose materials that are already close-captioned.

If TechSmith Relay (formerly Camtasia) or other internally-produced videos or audio will be made available to the class, faculty are responsible for notifying IT and Disability Services 1-2 weeks in advance of the date the material will be made available to the class, so it can be sent out for captioning and returned before the media is released for class use.

Note-takers

Because deaf students must focus their attention on the interpreter, it is vital for them to receive copies of lecture notes. This can be accomplished in two ways. The instructor can provide copies of lecture notes or another student can be identified to share lecture notes with the deaf student. Photocopies of lecture notes will be made at the College's expense by staff in the Parkhouse Hall Information Booth, the Science Center Divisional Offices, or West Campus Student Success Center. Instructors may have to assist with photocopying for evening or physical education courses.

Communicating by Phone and Email

Email, more than phone, is often preferred by deaf students. However, some students may prefer to communicate by phone using a Video Relay Service (VRS). Information about VRS, which is very easy to use, is available online. Text messaging, which was actually created to serve the Deaf and hard of hearing communing, is favored by many individuals for both in-person communication (when no interpreter is available) as well as remote communication.