College Student with a Disability:
A Faculty Handbook

The major challenge facing the student with a hearing impairment is spoken and written communication.

Speech reading (lip reading) is a partial solution. Under the best conditions, a person can read only 30 to 40 percent of the sounds of spoken English by watching the speaker’s lips.

Another form of communication used by many, but not all, persons who are deaf or hearing impaired is American Sign Language (ASL) or "manual" communication. In ASL, as with other sign languages, speakers express thoughts through a combination of hand and arm movements, positions, and gestures. The intensity and repetition of the movements and the facial expressions accompanying the movements are also important elements of manual communication. Fingerspelling is a part of sign language. Fingerspelling consists of various finger and hand positions for each of the letters of the alphabet.

Students with hearing impairments will also communicate in writing when speech reading, sign language, or fingerspelling cannot be used effectively. Faculty members should not hesitate to write notes when necessary to communicate with a student who is hearing impaired.

Many students who are deaf can, and do, speak. Some people who are deaf cannot automatically control the tone and volume of their speech so speech may be initially difficult to understand. Understanding improves as one becomes more familiar with the individual’s speech.

Telecommunication Devices for the Deaf (TDDs) are available that enable the person who is deaf to use the telephone. These devices provide visual communication, rather than amplifying or modifying auditory transmission. The college or university is required to have at least one such device available for student use. Amplifying Telephone Receivers are also available for students who are hard of hearing.

Title IV of the ADA provided for nationwide telephone relay services that allow users of TDDs to communicate with those who do not use TDDs. Either party can initiate the call, using an 800 number that connects with an operator. The operator translates between the two parties.

Students with hearing impairments, just like hearing students, vary to some degree in their communication skills. Factors such as personality, intelligence, degree of deafness, Residual Hearing, age of onset, and family environment all affect the kind of communication the student uses. As a result of these and other variables, a student who is deaf may use a number of the communication modes discussed above.

The main form of communication within the Deaf community in the United States is American Sign Language. In view of this, many persons who are deaf have not mastered the grammatical subtleties of their "second language" – English. This does not mean that instructors should overlook errors in written (or spoken) work. However, they should know that this difficulty with English is not related to intelligence, but is similar to that experienced by students whose native language is other than English.

In the classroom, most students who are deaf will use an Interpreter provided to the student through DSPS. The presence of an interpreter in the classroom enables the student to understand what is being said through sign language.

Interpretation will be easiest in lecture classes and more difficult in seminar or discussion classes. Because class formats vary so widely, it is recommended that the instructor, interpreter, and student arrange a conference early in the course to discuss any special arrangements that may be needed.

The interpreter and student(s) will usually choose to sit in the front of the classroom. The interpreter is aware that sign language may be a distraction to the class and the instructor. The interpreter has also learned that the initial curiosity of the class wanes and the instructor adapts easily to the interpreter’s presence.

Students who have hearing impairments usually require a notetaker in class because it is difficult to follow an interpreter or speech read the instructor and take notes at the same time. It is best if a classmate can be found who takes good notes. Carbonless notetaking (or NCR) paper is available for this purpose.

Most students who have hearing impairments will be able to take examinations and be evaluated in the same way as other students. If the test is written, it has been found that some students who are deaf do better if an interpreter reads and translates the questions to the student in sign language (because of English subtleties). However, many other students prefer to read the test themselves. If the method of evaluation is oral, the interpreter can serve as the reverse interpreter for the student.

Do not automatically assume that the student who is hearing impaired will be unable to participate in certain types of classes. For example, students who are deaf may be able to learn a great deal about music styles, techniques, and rhythms by observing a visual display of the music on an oscilloscope or similar apparatus or by feeling the vibrations of music. Some students will have enough residual hearing that amplification through earphones or Hearing Aids will allow participation. Discuss the requirements of a class with the student to determine if the materials can be modified so that the student can participate fully in the college learning experience.

The student who is hearing impaired may require nothing more than some form of amplification to participate in class: a hearing aid, or a Transmitter/Receiver unit (also known as an auditory training unit or FM unit).

DSPS staff is available to assist you in accommodating students with hearing impairments.