Accessibility for Deaf Students Saints Supporting Saints Navigating Difficult Conversations June Ann LeFors and Jennifer Catalano September 20 and 21, 2022
Agenda ● Introductions ● What is Accessibility for Deaf students? ● Accessibility for Deaf individuals ● Laws that Support Accessibility ● Universal Design for Learning (UDL) ● Accessibility at Flagler College
Introductions
June Ann LeFors Jennifer Catalano
Learning Objectives will:
● the laws that support it
● Identify ways to make their classrooms and the campus community accessible to Deaf students
Participants
Describe accessibility and
more
Think-Pair Share
What is accessibility for Deaf students?
Facts about the Deaf
• Over 1.5 billion people globally live with different hearing levels. This number could rise to over 2.5 billion by 2030.
• About 11.5 million Americans have some sort of atypical hearing level, ranging from difficulty in hearing conversation to total hearing loss. That’s about 3.5 percent of the population.
• About 3 million people in Florida are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
Deaf-inition
■ Deaf (or culturally Deaf) ■ Hard of hearing ■ Hearing impaired ■ Late-deafened ■ Presbycusis (age related hearing loss)
Federal Laws
Two federal statutes mandate that State and local colleges and other post-secondary institutions provide effective communication for their students and other individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing: 1. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act ○ Signed into law in 1973 2. ADA - American With Disability Act ○ Signed into law in 1990 (NAD, n.d.)
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
Forbids public and private entities that receive financial assistance from any federal department or agency from excluding qualified individuals with disabilities or denying them an equal opportunity to receive program benefits and services.
(U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, n.d.)
ADA - American WIth Disability Act
All state and local government activities and agencies (including private schools and colleges and all places of public accommodations) must be accessible to students and other individuals with disabilities.
(NAD, n.d.)
Auxiliary aids and Services ● Qualified interpreters ● Closed captioning ● Notetakers ● Transcription services ● Written materials ● Assistive listening devices and systems ● Real-Time captioning (CART) ● Extended time ● Other modifications to allow equal participation for D/HH in college classes and programs (NAD, n.d.; U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, n.d.)
How Work with an Interpreter
to
● Provide copies of materials beforehand if possible ● Brief the interpreter regarding topic of discussion ● Allow preferred seating for the D/HH student ● Allow space for preferred location for the interpreter (often next to speaker) ● Speak clearly and paced ● Face and engage in direct eye contact with individuals who are D/HH ● Limit excessive or distracting noise(s) ● If lectures will last longer than one hour, allow for a short break (University of Kentucky, n.d.)
Common Misconception
You took ASL 1, or know some signs, you can be an interpreter.
The Yellow Shirt Hurricane Guy Interpreter
Crap-tions
Universal
Design
UDL - Universal Design For Learning ● Representation ○ The “what” of learning ○ Offering information in more than one format ● Action and Expression ○ The “how” of learning ○ More than one way to interact with the material and to show what they’ve learned ● Engagement ○ The “why” of learning ○ Look for multiple ways to motivate students (Morin, 2022)
UDL - Representation
● Use images and text to illustrate ideas ● Provide digital formats that allow the learner to enlarge text or change fonts or colors ● Caption videos
UDL - Action and Expression
● Use multiple formats such as paper, electronic, and multimedia ● Allow various modes of expression (written, verbal, or projectbased) ● Facilitate scaffolding of ideas to promote higher-level learning
UDL - Engagement
● Provide choices ● Make assignments relevant to the students’ lives ● Hands-on learning - Get students up and moving around!
What can do at Flagler College
we
TODAY ● Use graphics/images that support auditory content ● Ensure movies/video are captioned and/or transcripts can be provided ● Provide a copy of PPT presentations 24 or more hours prior to class time, if/when possible ● Provide files in multiple formats ● Attend to Disability Resource Center accommodation letters (University of Kentucky, n.d.)
What will you do?
Identify ways to make your classrooms and the campus community more accessible to Deaf students.
Morin, A. (2022). Universal Design for Learning (UDL): What you need to know. https://www.readingrockets.org/article/universal-design-learning-udl-what-you-need-know National Association of the Deaf. (n.d.). State and local colleges and universities. Retrieved September 13, 2022, from https://www.nad.org/resources/education/higher-education/state-and-local-colleges-anduniversities/
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (n.d.). Effective communication for persons who are deaf or hard of hearing. Retrieved September 14, 2022, from https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-individuals/disability/effective-communication/index.html University of Kentucky. (n.d.). Educating learners who are deaf or hard of hearing. Retrieved September 13, 2022, from https://www.uky.edu/udl/hearing
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