Services for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students
Guiding PrinciplesSSD provides sign language interpreting, C-PrintTM captioning and other services to provide educational access to individuals who are Deaf or hard of hearing. These services are consistent with the University goals of fostering a welcoming climate for all.
InterpretingSign language interpreting provides the facilitation of communication between people who are Deaf or hard of hearing and individuals who are hearing. Interpreting services can be requested for any official University function. This includes, but is not limited to, Virginia Tech admissions, orientation activities, classes, academic related activities, extra-curricular activities, employment training and meetings, and other Virginia Tech sponsored events. Requests for the above interpreting services should be made to Services for Students with Disabilities at least two weeks in advance of the event. Interpreting services for registered students are scheduled for classes and labs for the full semester. Click on the Forms page to find an online interpreter request form.
C-PrintTM CaptioningThis real time computer-aided speech-to-text transcription system is provided for deaf or hard of hearing students who do not use sign language. With C-PrintTM , the captionist transcribes the lecture (professor and student comments/discussion) onto a laptop computer with the student viewing the text "real-time." At the end of the class, this transcript is then saved to the student's disk for use in reviewing and studying. Captioning services are scheduled for each student's class or lab (dependent on the specific class format) for the full semester. Some class formats are not conducive to this captioning service and may be served by notetakers. Captioning services can be requested for any official University function. This includes, but is not limited to, Virginia Tech admissions, orientation activities, classes, academic related activities, extra-curricular activities, employment training and meetings, and other Virginia Tech sponsored events. Requests for the above captioning services should be made to Services for Students with Disabilities at least two weeks in advance of the event. Click on the Forms page to find an online C-PrintTM Captionist request form.
NotetakingNotetaking is a supplemental service that might be required by Deaf or hard of hearing students not using C-PrintTM captioning services. Due to the difficulty of watching an interpreter or using speech-reading and writing lecture notes at the same time, a notetaker may serve as a reasonable accomodation to capture the lecture in hard copy form. Both student volunteer and professional notetakers are available.
Assistive Listening DevicesIndividuals who are hard of hearing may make use of an assistive listening device (ALD) which gives the user direct, amplified access to a speaker's voice while blocking out audio interference. Contact Services for Students with Disabilities well in advance to discuss ALD equipment needs. Many of the university's auditoriums are already set-up for ALD use. Meeting with the audio-visual technician in each auditorium will determine to what frequency a personal ALD should be set. These auditoriums also have a limited number of ALDs to checkout for that specific class meeting or event. Arrangements can also be made to checkout an ALD from SSD for the entire semester.
Telecommunications Devices for the Deaf, (TDDs) are available for use at several locations around campus. Contact our office for the latest location list.
University Colleges and Departments
For information regarding sign language interpreting requests by university colleges and departments, please contact:
Connie Wilkinson
Associate Director, Services for Students with Disabilities
(540) 231-0858
Last updated: Tuesday, 01-Jul-2008 14:46:51 EDT