The term ‘deaf people’ is used to describe people with varying degrees of deafness. The term ‘hard of hearing’ usually refers to people who have mild to severe hearing loss, often those who have lost their hearing gradually. Those who are ‘profoundly deaf’ have very little or no hearing, and British Sign Language (BSL) may be their first language, or they may rely on lip reading. BSL was recognised as an official language by the UK government in March 2003. It is the preferred language for around 250,000 deaf people.
If the person is a BSL user, they would require communication support to access lectures and interact with staff and peers. This would be in the form of a CSW or Interpreter. Deaf people may also lip read or use Sign Supported English, which takes the signs from BSL and uses them in the order that words would be spoken in English.
Students who enrol at UEL may not be aware of the need to contact us. It is most important that all UEL staff encourage deaf students or applicants to contact the DDAC. We can help arrange necessary support and apply for funding well in advance of entry to the course.
Deaf applicants will need to arrange their study support well before their course starts, as there is a national shortage of qualified Communication Support Workers. We will help find support workers through local groups such as the Redbridge Deaf Agency. The Agency provides communication support workers, note-takers and BSL interpreters. Students need to be fully aware of the situation before enrolment as we may have difficulty finding qualified support if the student leaves it too late.
Please consult our checklist for tips on working with deaf students.
Every student's needs are different. Upon discussion with a Disability Advisor, a Learning Support Agreement (LSA) will be drawn up and disseminated to all relevant UEL staff. The LSA will inform you of the disabled student's particular teaching, learning and assessment requirements.
Students with residual hearing may wear a hearing aid which amplifies all sound. However, in an environment such as a lecture theatre, background sound also becomes amplified and the lecture content can be hard to pick out. Many large lecture theatres are equipped with induction loop systems to assist hearing. This can look like a sound system, or microphone placed in front of the person speaking. Deaf students will need to adjust their hearing aid to the appropriate setting to pick up connections clearly.
© 2009
Can't find what you're looking for on this page?
Click here to start a search
For a general description of these pages and an explanation of how they should work with screenreading equipment please follow this link: Link to general description
For further information on this web site's accessibility features please follow this link: Link to accessibility information
The following message does not apply to screenreader users:
You will still be able to access all the essential content of this web site, but it will not look, or function, exactly as intended.
