Accessibility Knowledgebase

Accessibility - Accommodations for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students

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Accommodations for students who are deaf or hard of hearing can be classified as "visual" and "aural." Visual accommodations rely on a person's sight; aural accommodations rely on a person's hearing abilities. Visual accommodations include sign language interpreters, lip reading, and captioning. Aural accommodations include amplification devices such as FM systems.

Background:

Functional hearing loss ranges from mild to profound. Often, people who have very little or no functional hearing refer to themselves as "deaf." Those with milder hearing loss may label themselves as "hard of hearing." When these two groups are combined, they are often referred to as individuals with "hearing impairments", with "hearing loss", or who are "hearing impaired". When referring to the Deaf culture, "Deaf" is capitalized.

Check Your Understanding

Consider the following example as you think about accommodating a student with a hearing impairment in your class. Suppose you use several videotapes to present essential instructional content. How would you accommodate a student who is hearing impaired? Choose a response.

1. Have the videos open-captioned.
2. Provide a sign language interpreter.
3. Waive the requirement to watch the videos for this student.
4. Provide the student with a transcript of the content to read.

For more information consult the DO-IT publication Working Together: Computers and People with Sensory Impairments and Working Together: Computers and People with Sensory Impairments video.

Also see: Deaf or Hard of Hearing Resources that include Case Studies | Promising Practice | Q&A's

Case studies include:
Allison and Chemistry: A Case Study on Accommodations in Group Work and Discussion
Hua and Electrical Engineering: A Case Study on Accommodating Deafness or Hearing Loss
Roberto and Biology: A Case Study on Accommodations for Deafness
Sara in Medical School: A Case Study on Dealing with Deafness in a Clinical Health Setting

Source: Access STEM, DO-IT, University of Washington