Deaf Architects & Blind Acousticians? A Guide to the Principles of Sound Design. New Haven, Connecticut: Apple Enterprises Press Salter, Charles Associates Inc. Acoustics – Architecture, Engineering, the Environment. San Francisco, California: William Stout.
Through the years I knew no other Deaf architects. Up and coming architect grads would travel to my office from around the USA, to talk. To see what the life of a signing, non-talking, non-lipreading Deaf architect looked like. Slowly there were a few who knew each other.
In 1985, Patrick Seaman started a group of Deaf in the construction industry in Los Angeles. In 2011, before my architect wife and I traveled to eastern Europe, I received a Facebook message, “Does anyone know a Deaf Architect?” I answered Donatas Pocesinuas and here we are: World Deaf Architecture. A place to network and find mentors.
There are many teaching strategies you can use to ensure effective and productive learning environments and experiences for all students, including those with disabilities. Accessible Education i is the process of designing courses and developing a teaching style to meet the needs of people who have a variety of backgrounds, abilities and learning styles. Just as there is no single way to teach, people learn in a variety of ways; using different instructional methods will help meet the needs of the greatest number of learners ii. Under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, you have a responsibility to learn about accessibility for persons with disabilities and how it relates to the development and delivery of accessible programs and courses. The following are some practical tips for teaching students with deaf-blindness. Encourage students to tell you about any accessibility concerns. You can do this verbally early in the semester and by including an accessibility statement on your syllabus.
Indicate that such conversations are confidential and are strictly for facilitating any learning needs or accommodations that may be in place. Identify and clearly express the essential course content, and recognize that students can express understanding of essential course content in multiple ways.
Diversify assignments or allow for exceptions to enable all students to demonstrate their specific talents (for example, oral presentations, poster presentations and written assignments). Insist on professional, civil conduct between and among students to respect people’s differences and create an inclusive environment. Consider providing your classes with information about the accessible features of their immediate environment (for example, automatic doors and accessible washrooms). Provide the course outline, the list of reading requirements, copies of overhead slides, and all other materials in an accessible, digital format whenever possible.
Some persons with deaf-blindness will use assistive technology. The type of technology they use will depend, in part, on their hearing and sight levels and whether they rely on one of their senses more than the other, if at all. Assistive technologies could include sound amplification (hearing aids), as well as screen readers and/or screen-enhancement software that allows the user to magnify the computer screen or change the contrast. Accommodate the needs of students who use adaptive technology, such as closed-captioning, screen readers, personal frequency modulation (FM) systems, teletypewriters (known as TTYs), amplified phones, closed-circuit television (CCTV), Braille, magnifiers and magnification software. Understand that environmental noise, poor acoustics, and a speaker’s voice, pitch, volume, patterns and accent will impact the quality of the communication process for students who rely on residual hearing. Be flexible and available to meet with a student and his/her intervenor, and with staff in the Office for Students with Disabilities, as needed to discuss specific learning needs, strategies for success, alternatives to course assignment, and methods of evaluation. The communication process for a student with deaf-blindness can be slower than that of a student who does not have a hearing or visual disability.
Curriculum may take longer to deliver, and greater time may be required for clarification of course content. As an educator, you have a responsibility to accommodate students with disabilities under the Ontario Human Rights Code. Requests for accommodation are made on an individual basis by students through the Office for Students with Disabilities and require medical and/or formal documentation. The following are common academic accommodations that may be required for students with deaf-blindness.
This list is not exhaustive and is not intended to replace the official request for academic accommodations as communicated by the Office for Students with Disabilities. If possible, send your teaching material to the student electronically, or transfer it onto a USB flash drive for the student.
Provide your contact information by e-mail and orally. Identify note-takers. Allow students to audio-record lectures.
Allow for preferential seating, either to facilitate better listening or to allow for proximity to an electrical outlet. Arrange to meet with the student to discuss specific learning needs, strategies for success, alternatives to course assignments, and methods of evaluation when the student provides her or her letter of accommodation. For exams that include graphic content (such as charts, maps and illustrations), you should contact your Office for Students with Disabilities to have the material transcribed into a format that’s accessible to the student; if needed, you can provide an alternate evaluation method. Consider, when appropriate, offering alternatives to more traditional assignments and exams, such as an oral presentation instead of a written assignment or exam. Provide extended time for tests and exams; note that students may have access to an interpreter during tests and exams to interpret questions. Note that students may use an interpreter for oral assignments and presentations.
Remember that students with disabilities do not have to disclose their disability to their professors or anyone else in the academic environment in order to receive accommodations. Unless a student chooses to disclose to you the nature of his or her disability, you will only receive information on the accommodations the student is entitled to receive. It is important to familiarize yourself with the accommodation and the accessibility resources and protocols at your university to ensure you are following recommended practices.
Kwantlen Polytechnic University, University of Ottawa, Trent University, York University, i The term Accessible Education has been adopted to capture the value of two frameworks in improving the accessibility of university education: Universal Instructional Design (UID) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL).