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New FAQs from PEPNet's website

Here are a few of the newest Frequently Asked Questions from the PEPNet website:

Question:
Are colleges/universities responsible for providing interpreting services for individuals other than students, such as parents or people from the community who are deaf?

Response: Yes, colleges/universities are responsible for providing communication access for sponsored programs and activities. If a parent who is deaf wants to attend an event that is open to all parents, then the college/university is responsible for providing communication access. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a "public entity" is required to take appropriate steps to ensure that communications with members of the public with disabilities are as effective as communications with others with an equal opportunity to participate. Providing an interpreter takes time. It is reasonable to expect requests for accommodations in advance. Keep in mind, requests by parents or community members may not be limited to only sign language interpreting services. People may request services such as speech-to-text services, assistive listening devices, or even reserved seating at events.

Policies regarding who locates and pays for interpreting services vary. At some institutions, the disability support office handles the requests and payments. At other institutions, individual departments or divisions find and fund interpreters. The individual who is deaf or hard of hearing is never responsible for the costs of accommodations.

Resources:
U.S Department of Justice, A Guide to Disability Rights Laws
www.ada.gov/cguide.htm#anchor62335
www.ada.gov/pubs/ada.htm

National Association of the Deaf
www.nad.org/issues/civil-rights/ADA

Americans with Disabilities Act: Responsibilities for Postsecondary Institutions Serving Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students - Questions and Answers; Jeanne M Kincaid, Esq. & Sharaine J. Rawlinson, M.S.W., 1999
http://pdcorder.pepnet.org/media/1054secondedition.pdf

Question:
Can the office of Disability Support Services at a postsecondary institution cancel interpreting or speech-to-text services because of excessive student absences? Is it appropriate to continue to pay for services that are not being used?

Response:
Deaf and hard-of-hearing students have the same rights as their hearing peers, which includes the right to be absent from class. Interpreting and speech-to-text services should not be canceled due to student absences, but services may be temporarily suspended, according to clearly written policies, until a student completes specified tasks required to reinstate services. A postsecondary institution's attendance policies, or the attendance policy of an academic department or instructor, may be used as a guide to determine the service suspension policies of the office of disability services regarding interpreting and speech-to-text services.

The disability services office should review service provision policies with the student at the beginning of the semester or quarter; some schools require that the students sign the agreement. This agreement might specify the college's attendance policy and describe the circumstances,such as excessive absences, that would result in service suspension. The steps that a student must take to reinstate services should be defined in the agreement as well.

While it is not appropriate to discuss specific costs of interpreting and speech-to-text services with students, students should be aware that institutions have limited budgets and know they should be responsible for giving advanced notice of an absence whenever possible.

The PEPNet Product Dissemination Center (PDC) has resources for Disability Support Services, including:

Question:
The student communicates fine with me in my office. Why does he need a sign language interpreter for class?

Response:
Students who are deaf or hard of hearing may rely on a variety of communication modes, depending on the setting and purpose of the dialogue or communication.

Speechreading skills and residual hearing may be effective in one setting, but ineffective in another. This may even be true for students who use assistive listening technology or speech-to-text services and/or who may have a cochlear implant. Students who experience hearing loss vary on degree of loss, type of loss, age of onset, and preferred communication mode. All of these factors impact a student's ability to speechread.

Approximately 30 % of English speech sounds are visible on the mouth. Speechreading involves using residual hearing, watching body language and facial expressions, and knowing the topic. A student will not be able to follow if there are group discussions or instruction given while the instructor is looking down or has his back to the class. The following factors impact a student's need for a sign language interpreter:

  • acoustics, size, lighting of the room
  • student's familiarity with the subject
  • lecture vs. discussion format
  • instructor's accent or facial hair that obscures lips.

These factors also influence a student's need for a sign language interpreter in one class but possibly not in another.

It may be difficult for the student to monitor her speech for loudness and clarity in a classroom versus a small office. A classroom interpreter can project what the student is signing to the instructor and class with appropriate loudness and clarity and enables the student to participate in class discussions effectively.

One-on-one communication with a student in a quiet disability services office often includes information already familiar to the student. When compared to the classroom, where the information is new and unfamiliar and the acoustics may vary, it is easier to understand why students may require sign language interpreting services, speech-to-text services, or assistive listening devices.

The student truly is the best judge of when he needs support services such as interpreting. This is further supported by Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which states that institutions must give "primary consideration" to the communication preferences of the individual with the disability.

Additional Resources:

http://pdcorder.pepnet.org/media/1047TPSHT_ADA.pdf

http://pdcorder.pepnet.org/media/1042TPSHT_Language_Learning.pdf

http://pdcorder.pepnet.org/media/1054secondedition.pdf

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