College Student with a Disability:
A Faculty Handbook

Amplifying Telephone Receivers
Telephone receivers with a volume control built into the handgrip are available for a small additional fee from the telephone company. Some public telephones are equipped with amplifiers as well. They allow persons with hearing impairments to amplify the incoming conversation.

Brailled Books
See Interactive Fingerspelling and Braille Guide for general information about Braille and an interactive Braille guide.

Brailler
The Perkins Brailler is an all-purpose Braillewriter. Six keys operate it, one for each dot in the Braille cell. There are spacing, line advancing, and backspacing keys. Extension keys are available which allow the user to emboss the full Braille cell by one stroke of either hand, leaving the other hand free to read Brailled material, which is being copied, or for use by persons without the use of both hands.

Captioned Films
Public Law 85-905 established the Captioned Films Program to provide for distribution of captioned films through appropriate agencies to bring to deaf persons an understanding and appreciation of those films that play a part in the general and cultural advancement of hearing persons. Theatrical, short subject, documentary, training and educational films for adults are available. Certain copyright restrictions apply to showings.

Dog Guides
Dogs specially trained to guide a person who has a visual impairment. 

Fingerspelling
See Interactive Fingerspelling and Braille Guide for an interactive Fingerspelling Guide

Head Pointer
A stick or rod which is attached to a head band, and placed on a person’s head so that by moving the head an individual can perform tasks that would ordinarily be performed by hand or finger movement.

Hearing Aid
Consists of a receiver and amplifier of sound. A hearing aid amplifies all sounds in the environment with the same intensity. A hearing aid does not sort, process, or discriminate among sounds. Because someone is wearing a hearing aid, it does not mean that the person can hear normally. Aids do not correct hearing, but they improve hearing in some people. They may enable someone to hear a voice even through he or she may not be able to understand words.

Interpreter/Transliterator
A professional person who assists persons who are deaf in communicating with hearing people who cannot sign. The following certifications are awarded by the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (R.I.D.) National Certification Board:

• Expressive Translating: Ability to simultaneously translate from spoken to manual English (verbatim).
  
  

• Expressive Interpreting: Ability to use sign language with hearing-impaired persons who possess various levels of language competence.
  
  

• Reverse Skills: Ability to render (manually, orally, or written) a hearing impaired person’s messages.
  
  

• Comprehensive Skills: Includes all of the above skills.
  
  

• Legal Specialist Certificate: Includes Comprehensive Skills plus specialized evaluation to qualify for interpreting in a variety of legal settings.
  
  

A directory, which lists members by states, certified members, chapter officers, and suggested reimbursement for professional services is available for a nominal fee.

Large Print Books
A number of sources produce large print books for the individual with low vision. Most ordinary print is six to ten "points" in height (about 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch). Large type is 14 to 18 points (about 3/16 to ¼ of an inch) and sometimes larger. The format of large print books is also proportionally larger (usually 8½ by 11 inches). The American Foundation for the Blind, Inc. can provide a list of publishers of large print books. Also the American Printing House for the Blind distributes a general catalog of large type publications.

Laryngectomy
The person who has had his/her voice box removed is taught to take air into the mouth and swallow, or force the air into the esophagus by locking the tongue to the roof of the mouth. The expelled air causes the walls of the esophagus and pharynx to vibrate. This action causes a low-pitched sound. This sound is the laryngectomee’s voice. The sound is then articulated into words by the tongue, lips, teeth and palate. There are mechanical substitutes for those who cannot learn esophageal speech.

Models
Various models of microorganisms, organs, and other bodily parts as well as plant and animal forms are available through college science supply distributors. In addition, miniature reproductions of works of art and architecture are available. The American Printing House for the Blind sells a set of 19 rectangular models representative of invertebrate animal and plant phyla.

Mouth Wand
A rod with a tooth grip that is held in the mouth and used to perform tasks that would ordinarily be performed by hand. Various attachments may allow the individual to type, draw, paint, etc.

NCR Paper
Carbonless paper that facilitates notetaking for students who have difficulty taking notes.

Personal Computer
Standard personal computers can be adapted for use by students with various disabilities. Speech recognition software and adapted keyboards enable students who are unable to use a regular keyboard to input data into the computer programs. Text-to-speech or screen reading software enables students with difficulty reading print to hear text read to them. Optical Character Recognition software translates text from a printed page (using a scanner) into electronic text to be read by the screen reading software. Enlarged text software and Closed Circuit Televisions enable students with low vision to read text on a computer monitor.

Raised Line Drawings
Charts, graphs, and diagrams can be reproduced for use by students who have visual impairments by using a raised line drawing board, which consists of a rubber-like clipboard over which pieces of plastic film are placed. Patterns are then traced onto the plastic film with a sharp instrument causing the plastic to stretch and raise. An easier method for creating raised line drawings consists of "tracing" over the lines of the chart or diagram with Elmer’s glue which when dry results in a raised drawing that students who have visual impairments can use as they would Braille.

Ramp
A ramp should be at least 4’ in width and have a gradient no greater than 1:12.

Reader
A volunteer or employee of the student with a visual impairment who reads printed material in person or onto audiotape. The "reader" sometimes performs other tasks for the blind student such as mobility assistance.

Recorded Books
Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic (RFB&D) is a national, non-profit voluntary organization, supported primarily by contributions from the public. It provides taped educational books, free on loan, to print-handicapped elementary, high school, college, and graduate students, as well as to non-students who require specialized reading material in their professions or vocations. Service is somewhat slow during the beginning of the academic year. Students must place their orders early. Many community-based volunteer agencies produce books in recorded form. See page 29 for contact information.

Relief Maps
Most geography departments (and some libraries) have three- dimensional maps that the blind students can use with a reader to understand landforms, locations, and other topographical features. The American Printing House for the Blind markets some relief maps with appropriate Braille keys and some "puzzle" style maps

Residual Hearing
The amount of hearing remaining after hearing loss. Few deaf people hear no sound at all.

Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf
The R.I.D., Inc., a national organization with over 50 chapters and a membership of over 1800, was organized in 1964 for the purpose of providing translating/interpreting services to the deaf of America and its trust territories. In addition, the R.I.D. has members from other nations.

Scanner
Computer hardware that, used in conjunction with specific software, can translate printed material into electronic text.

Sighted Guide
When serving as a sighted guide for a person with a visual impairment, and only when the person has agreed to accept assistance, let the person take your arm (right or left, depending on the his/her preference). Walk about one-half step ahead. S/he will follow the motion of your body. When showing a person with a visual impairment to a chair, place his/her hand on the back of the chair.

Sign Language
American Sign Language (ASL) is one form of manual communication used by deaf Americans. Sign language is not universal. Deaf persons from different countries speak different sign languages. The gestures or symbols in sign language are organized in a linguistic way. Each individual gesture is called a sign. Each sign has three distinct parts: the handshape, the position of the hands, and the movement of the hands. The ways in which the signs of ASL are combined are unique to it. They are not based on English or any other spoken language. Two sign systems that are based on English are Signed Exact English (SEE sign) and Signed English. The three systems have elements in common, but American Sign Language is the language used by the majority of persons who are deaf throughout the United States.

Slate and Stylus
The traditional method for writing Braille by hand. Slates are made of metal or plastic frames or guides. A pointed steel punch with a handle called a stylus is used to punch the Braille dots. Each guide or frame consists of two parts connected at the left end by a hinge. The face of the bottom of the frame is pitted with four lines of a series of six small, round depressions corresponding to the shape and spacing of the dots of the Braille cell. To write on a slate, paper is inserted between the top and bottom of the frame and is held in place by small pins. The Braille dots are punched downward into the paper. This makes it necessary to write from right to left in order that, when the paper is turned over in position for reading, the Braille characters can be read from left to right.

Standards
Some common standards to eliminate barriers are:

• Walks: 4’ minimum width
  
  

• Doors: 32" minimum clear opening
  
  

• Toilet Stall: minimum 3’ wide, 5’ deep, 2’8" outswing door
  
  

• Telephone: dial, handset, and coin slot not over 48" from the floor.
  
  

• Elevator: controls no higher than 48" from the floor.
  
  

The following standards are appropriate for laboratory stations: Under-counter knee clearance at least 32" in width and a height of 27½," working countertop height not to exceed 30," no sink wells. Faucet handles (blade type) and gas jets, spouts, etc. should not be beyond an 18" horizontal working reach from the counter edge. Doorways should be at least 36" wide and ramps should have a gradient no steeper than 1:12. The Association of Physical Plan Administrators (listed in "Resources for Post-Secondary Educators") can provide further information on standards and specifications.

Talking Calculators
Various models of hand held or desk type calculators that "speak" are available and come with an assortment of basic functions from independent memory to accumulating memory.

Telecommunication Device for the Deaf
TDDs are instruments such as the teletypewriter (TTY) that allow deaf persons to communicate over the telephone. Such a device must be located at each end of the telephone conversation. Some devices type the message on a paper roll while others display the message on an electronic calculator-like display with the letters moving from right to left across a screen. Some TDDs display the message on a television-like screen.

Transliterator
Another term for interpreter.

Transmitter/Receiver
A wireless electronic amplification system consisting of an instructor microphone/transmitter, binaural student FM receiver, and a recharging unit. The system allows the hard-of-hearing student to have personal amplification in the classroom setting. Newer models are available that are very compact and inconspicuous.