TESC Guide for Students with a Hearing Loss

Welcome to The Evergreen State College. The information on this web page is intended to assist prospective and current students who are deaf or hard of hearing to obtain assistance with and accommodation for their hearing loss. It also contains useful information about access services at Evergreen, and resources on and off campus.

Contents of this page

• Personal Kit suggestions
• Academic Accommodation Process at Evergreen
• Accommodation Process for other Evergreen Activities
• Evergreen Resources
• Other Resources

The Evergreen State College is mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act {insert chapter and verse -- See Author's Note below} to {provide services to be identified}. Accommodation must be provided for any activity sponsored by Evergreen, including academic work, non-academic work and study in foreign nations. However, each of those opportunities may (and probably will) have different procedures to follow and departments with which you must connect.

Author's Note: In the course of my research I have learned that Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is an important part of the picture. I will incorporate language about this into the final draft. ~5/22/2007

Students' Rights and Responsibilities

Author's Note: I'm looking at one of the three paragraphs below, or a composite to describe student responsibilities. I welcome suggestions on wording and placement.

• Important: Evergreen is mandated to provide the accommodation, but it is your responsibility to request the services, follow the procedures, and provide requested documentation.
• As a student at Evergreen, you have both rights and responsibilities. If you have an accommodation need, it is your responsibility to take the proper steps to get what you need.
• It is important to remember that everyone – students, staff, faculty and administrators – wants your Evergreen experience to be unforgettable. Hearing loss and deafness are "invisible" disabilities. Since your disability can't be seen, it is your responsibility to speak about it, and be proactive about getting your needs met.

For more information about your rights and responsibilities, visit http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/transition.html to view and/or order a copy of "Students with Disabilities Preparing for Postsecondary Education: Know Your Rights and Responsibilities".

Personal Kit

Your personal kit should include information about you.

• Your audiogram (needed to document your hearing loss)
• A document identifying ways you need accommodation in various settings (lectures, seminar, small groups, meetings, videos, etc.) to provide for your faculty
• A brief speech to request accommodation of your fellow students
• An "I Read Lips" button
• A pocket-sized notepad and writing instrument
• Your assistive listening device(s), spare batteries

Future: Add links to documents and graphics.

Academic Accommodation Process at Evergreen

• Admissions will send you a "___" form. Complete the form and submit it to Access Services.
• Access Services will contact you, send you a "___" form. Complete the form and follow the instructions, including providing documentation of your disability.
• If you qualify for Access Services, letters will be sent to your faculty.
• You should then send your faculty your "document identifying ways you need accommodation" and discuss how to enlist the cooperation of your students. Are you intending to make a five-minute speech? Students are not mandated to accommodate you.
• If you require assistive listening devices, some are available at Media Loan. Access Services will provide an Extended Loan Form, you need to fill in the blanks. Submit the form to Media Loan and get your equipment. __?__ will provide you with new batteries. (Meredith has done this, but so has Media Loan.)
• When you check out your assistive listening devices from Media Loan, make sure you understand how to use them. You will be required to sign some forms.
• Present your speed to students at your first class.
• Return your equipment at the end of the quarter.

Future: Add links to sample forms

Accommodation Process for Non-Academic Evergreen Activities

• You need to determine who is sponsoring the event or activity, and request accommodation. This is your opportunity to find out where the activity will be held in order to determine what accommodation you need. Often it is based on the room environment.
• The activity sponsor will contact Access Services to arrange for your accommodation.
• It is advisable for you to follow up with the sponsor to ensure that arrangements have been made.
• You should arrive early to ensure that arrangements have been made according to your needs. Often the sponsor and their cadre of volunteers are already busy finalizing arrangements. You need to look after yourself.
• It would be cordial and appreciated if you would thank the sponsor after the activity. This is your opportunity to provide valuable feedback regarding the success (or lack thereof) of your accommodation. This will help the sponsor be better prepared in the future and/or change procedures to prevent any problems which might have occurred.

Future: Add links to sample forms

Evergreen Resources

• K.E.Y. Student Services
• Student Affairs
• Assistive Technology Lab
• Electronic Media Center
• Health & Counseling Services

Other Resources

Author's Note: The resources will be posted to separate web pages at the conclusion of the review.

There are literally hundreds of web sites with information and resources for people with hearing loss. Those listed below are most well known, and offer links to other resources.

Author's note: As with any Internet resource, information changes with the speed of electrons, and so do links. Therefore, we appreciate your taking the time to notify the webmaster for this page if you discover broken links or misinformation. To do so helps ensure this information will continue to be useful to us all. Thank you!

The Hearing, Speech & Deafness Center strengthens community by promoting effective communication. Many of their services are offered free of charge. They offer classes and some coaching. The Tacoma office is the contract resource for the Washington State Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

For further information contact:

Hearing, Speech and Deafness Center (HSDC) (www.hsdc.org)

Tacoma Office 3516 South 47th St, Suite 200 Tacoma, WA 98409

Voice: 253-475-0782 / TTY: 253-474-1748 / VP: 253-474-1750

Toll Free TTY: 866-698-1748 / Fax: 253-475-1188

The Hearing Loss Association of America (formerly Self Help for Hard of Hearing People) is the nation's largest organization for people with hearing loss. The Hearing Loss Association of America exists to open the world of communication for people with hearing loss through information, education, advocacy and support. The Hearing Loss Association has a Tacoma chapter which meets monthly.

For further information contact:

Hearing Loss Association of America (www.hearingloss.org www.shhh.org)

7910 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 1200 Bethesda, MD 20814

(301) 657-2248 v-tty (301) 913-9413 fax

Hear Now: This unique national program provides assistance to individuals and families with limited financial resources. HEAR NOW maintains the National Hearing Aid Bank, which provides new and reconditioned hearing aids to deaf and hard of hearing people who cannot afford them. These hearing aids are distributed through hearing health care providers in comminutes nationwide. HEAR NOW also has a cochlear implant program that raises funds to provide cochlear implant and related service to both adults and children. In addition, HEAR NOW has developed the National Hearing Assistance Directory (NHAD), which provides state-by-state listings of financial and social resources offered through government agencies and private organizations.

For further information contact:

Hear Now (www.sotheworldmayhear.org)

6700 Washington Avenue South Eden Prairie, MN 55344

800-648-HEAR V/TTY / 952-828-6946 FAX / E-mail: nonprofit@starkey.com

Local Agencies/Programs: Local agencies sometimes receive donations or private funds to assist with various needs. Speech and hearing centers may provide hearing aids at a reduced rate for clients who have used their service for audiological assessment. Some areas have hearing aid banks that distribute reconditioned hearing aids to individuals ineligible for financial assistance. These banks are often affiliated with local service organizations such as:

• United Way: http://national.unitedway.org
• Child Health Centers Speech and hearing centers
• Organizations for older adults
• Deaf community centers
• Organizations for Deaf and hard of hearing people
• Religious organizations/institutions
• Hearing aid banks

Statewide Agencies/Programs: These agencies and programs provide service to residents of their state. Agencies may be able to provide full or partial assistance depending upon financial circumstances. Medicaid provides service to eligible recipients only. Crippled children's services may provide hearing aids for children up to 21 years of age from low-income families. The following are several organizations that typically offer this type of assistance:

• Medicaid: www.cms.gov/medicaid
• Department of Health and Human Service: www.hhs.gov
• Department of Public Health (Health and Environment, etc.)
• Commission for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People (Council for the Hearing Impaired, Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, etc)
• Programs for Individual with Developmental Disabilities
• Family Service Centers

Civic/Service Organizations: Many community service organizations receive charitable donations to purchase hearing aids and other devices for low income deaf and hard of hearing people. Clubs often recondition hearing aids and donate them to needy individuals. Many of these organizations are listed in your telephone directory. The following are several organizations that typically offer this type of assistance:

• National Easter Seal Society: www.easterseals.com
• March of Dimes: www.marchofdimes.com/home.asp
• TelecomPioneers (formerly Telephone Pioneers of America): www.telecompioneers.org
• Lions Clubs International: www.lionsclubs.org
• Kiwanis Clubs: www.kiwanis.org
• Rotary Clubs: www.rotary.org
• Sertoma Clubs: www.sertoma.org
• Optimist Clubs: www.optimist.org

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (insert blurb)

For further information contact:

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (http://asha.org/ )

Health Plan Report Card 1081 Rockville Pike Rockville, MD 20852

301-897-5700 V/TTY / 800-638-8255 V/TTY

Assistive Technology

For further information contact:

Harris Communications (www.harriscomm.com)

15155 Technology Drive, Eden Prairie, MN 55344

Sometimes hearing loss has advantages :-)

Little-known facts of hard of hearing history, from Speaking Up, the monthly newsletter of Hearing Loss Association of Tacoma:

"Hard of hearing climber Sir Walter Barnacle, K.B.E., H.O.H,, etc., etc., was the first man to scale Mt. Everests's lesser known neighbor Mt. Huh. He was the only one in his party to reach the summit. The others were too sleepy. Apparently, Barnacle's hearing impairment silenced the whistling wind and flapping tent that had kept the others awake."

Author's Note: This web page is being created in completion of my Winter, 2007, Individual Learning Contract on Hearing Loss Accommodation. For the sake of my contract, I'm including everything on this one page.

Please see my TESC HOH Review web page is located at http://www.talkshop.info/hoh/TESC-HOH-Review.htm for an invitation to participate in this process.

Terry Ford, Interim Director of Access Services has offered the opportunity to link this web page to the Access Services web page. At the point when that becomes a reality, it's conceivable the contents of this one page will be broken out into several linked pages.

Note: I am working on the following:

• An electronic media presentation called "Speaking for Understanding"
• A Flip Kit with Magic Slate