Glossary of Terms

Academic Accommodation: Changes in the delivery of course material and/or in the assessment of knowledge that assist students in meeting the standards of the course. Students are eligible for the accommodations based on the documentation of their disability. A few examples of accommodations include note takers, speech-to-text providers, sign language interpreter, recorded textbooks, extended test time, and the use of assistive technology during class and exams.
Age of Onset: The age at which a person acquires a disability and related limitations.
Amplification: The use of hearing aids or any other technology used by a person with a hearing loss to amplify sound.
American Sign Language (ASL): A natural visual-gestural language with syntax, structure, and grammar rules different from English.
Assistive Listening Device (ALD): Devices that use a microphone positioned close to the speaker’s mouth to transmit speech to the receiver worn by the student, either via a loop, headphones, or an ear bud. ALDs help overcome the problems of distance and surrounding noise. Also known as Hearing Assistive Technology.
Closed Captioning: Displaying the audio portion of a television program, video, or movie as text on the screen. The captions are “closed” until the viewer activates them through a decoder.
Communication Access Real-time Translation (CART): A speech-to-text service that uses specialized computer software, and human input, to provide a transcript of the lecture and class discussion, meant to be word-for-word.
Cued Speech: A visual mode of communication that uses hand shapes and placements in combination with the mouth movements of speech to make the phonemes of a spoken language look different from each other.
Deaf Person: Someone whose hearing loss makes it impossible for him/her to understand speech and spoken language with or without the use of hearing aids. An individual who seeks out other deaf people for social interaction and emotional support may view himself as a member of the Deaf community and value Deaf culture.
Degree of Hearing Loss: The extent of hearing impairment usually categorized as “slight,” mild,” “moderate,” “severe,” or “profound.”
Documentation: A written assessment from a professional with expertise in that particular field of disability. This documentation is required in order to determine the student's eligibility for services and the specific services that are needed. Since there are some variations among colleges regarding the documentation required to receive services, students are encouraged to inquire at all colleges of interest.
Equal Access: Providing to students with disabilities (who are "otherwise qualified") the same educational opportunities and full participation in programs and activities as provided to all other students.
Hard of Hearing Person: The term “hard of hearing” may be used to describe all degrees of hearing loss up to and including total deafness. A person who is hard of hearing generally uses speech and residual hearing (with or without amplification) to communicate.
Interpreter/Transliterators: A trained professional who is bound by a code of professional conduct to facilitate communication between deaf and hearing persons. Interpreters and Transliterators may be fluent in American Sign Language; or they may provide Cued Speech transliteration; or they may be oral interpreters who mouth words without voice so individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing can speech read the information presented.
Note-taker: A person, typically a student in the class, who takes notes and provides them to the student with a disability. Notes include lecture information, diagrams, and comments from class discussions.
Open Captioning: Text from a television program, video, or movie that appears automatically on the screen to convey the spoken information. No special decoder is needed.
Otherwise Qualified: As a student with a disability, you are "otherwise qualified” when you meet the same academic requirements and standards as non-disabled students. These requirements and standards must be considered necessary to maintain the integrity of a course, program or college policy. For example, a student with a disability is required to meet the instructor's expectations for all students in regard to class participation, work standards, attendance, and ability to demonstrate acquired knowledge, unless they are eligible for an accommodation, pertaining to one of the issues/topics.
Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID): A national professional organization that is responsible for testing and certifying interpreters, and maintaining the Code of Professional Conduct.
Residual Hearing: Any usable hearing that a person may have.
Speech Reading (also known as lip reading): The process of watching a person’s mouth movements and facial expressions to ascertain what is being said. Speech reading ability varies from person to person and can be influenced by factors such as the amount of useable hearing a person has and their knowledge of spoken English, the lighting and ambient noise in the room, and speaker differences such as accents, lip movements, and facial hair.
Speech-to-Text Service: A service provided to facilitate communication by using technology to provide a text format for auditory information. The service provider uses special software and a display device, and types all of the spoken information so the student is able to read the lecture or class discussion, or communication.
Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS): Services that facilitate two-way telephone communication between a person who uses a TTY or a computer and a person who does not use such a device.
TTY: A telecommunication device used by persons who are deaf who cannot communicate on the telephone. A typewriter-like unit prints the conversation on a screen or paper so that it can be read, and enables the user to type responses back on the keyboard. A TTY must connect with another TTY or a computer. Currently referred to as a TDD (Telecommunication Device for the Deaf).
Video Relay Service (VRS): A free online service which provides on-screen interpreters to facilitate phone calls between hearing and deaf or hard of hearing persons.