Working with Deaf & Hard of Hearing Students
4.8 WORKING WITH STUDENTS WITH ACCOMMODATIONS
As the home of the National Center on Deafness (NCOD), CSUN has many deaf and hard of hearing students. Whether we are teaching in a fully online environment or in-person (or something in between), we must be thoughtfully conscious to avoid creating challenges for these students and be sure to consider their unique needs. Fortunately, the NCOD has shared specific things to consider as you plan your course.
Getting Started
We all wish to facilitate and maximize the learning opportunities and environments for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. In doing so, we recognize the diversity of individual strengths, experiences, abilities and challenges.
Your students will possess varying levels of hearing, speech ability, speech reading (lip reading) or sign language skill. Some will use interpreting services while other choose transcribing (captioning) services.
NCOD will notify you via email of a deaf or hard of hearing student in your upcoming class, along with the student’s name and email addresses of service providers. Connect with your students proactively. They know what works best for them.
👉🏽Tip: Add the service providers to Canvas so they can review and prepare with the materials to effectively provide accommodation services.
Working With Service Providers (Interpreters, Transcribers)
Primarily, please partner with your service providers. They are your colleagues and would like to collaborate with you. NCOD interpreters are trained professionals equipped to serve the students’ sign language communication needs/preferences. The interpreter facilitates communication, but is not a classroom aide or advisor. Transcribers provide summary notes or a verbatim transcript of your class.
These services are provided not only for face-to-face occasions on campus but your FOI (Fully Online Intermittent) or COI (Campus Online Intermittent) classes, meetings, or events
Adhere to the Established Time for Your Class
The service providers follow a strict schedule and the student will miss out if you go overtime.
Please be aware that class overtime, spontaneous, or last-minute unscheduled sessions constitute discrimination against students who must be provided with pre-arranged service providers as their accommodations.
Virtual Learning Considerations
For all FOS, FOI, COS, and COI formatted classes, we ask that all professors forward the class syllabus to NCOD including their Zoom link to: ncod@csun.edu.
For all FOI and COI formatted classes, we ask that all professors inform NCOD of the exact class meeting dates and times so that accommodation services can be arranged in advance. You can send this information to ncod@csun.edu.
For virtual classroom/Zoom, Skype, etc.: The deaf or hard of hearing student needs to see both you and the interpreter on the screen. Make sure the interpreter(s) can always be seen. Virtual learning is covered in more detail for faculty at this website.
👉🏽Tip: If you have a student using an interpreter, change your permissions in the Zoom settings to allow them to pin multiple videos. This way they will be able to pin different interpreters as they take turns interpreting your class session.
💻Here is the quick way to do it on Zoom: Select Participants along the meeting toolbar. Then hover over the participant's name, select More, then Allow to Multi-pin.
Captioning Videos
The CSU adheres to accessibility law, which requires the captioning of all classroom media materials.
There is no chargeback needed to caption instructional videos or correct YouTube captions.
Media captioning considerations
Submit media captioning service requests to NCOD at ncod@csun.edu.
Where to Find Assistance
For assistance, please contact the NCOD office at (818) 677-2054 (Zoom) or via email at ncod@csun.edu.
Do not hesitate to ask the student for clarification regarding the classroom process, accessibility accommodations, or general feedback.
✔️ To Do:
📌 Ensure all videos are captioned
📌 If you have a deaf or hard of hearing student, send syllabus and course meeting info to NCOD and add service providers to Canvas.
You've designed your course, created your syllabus, and navigated SOLAR and SAAS. Let's take a look at the physical classroom space.