First, a little history. Since the Fall Quarter of 1968, the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (which is one of the Colleges of RIT) has provided support services enabling deaf students to enroll and participate in Rochester Institute of Technology course work along side their hearing peers. Sign language interpreting and classroom notetaking are the most visible of these services.
The NTID Department of Science and Engineering Support is responsible for the academic support provided to deaf students enrolled in course work offered by the Colleges of Science, Engineering and Applied Sciences and Technology.
NTID students, like their hearing peers, vary greatly in their level of maturity, preparedness for specific course work, etc. In addition, deaf students also vary greatly in terms of their communication skills. Some hear well enough with hearing aids (and/or benefit enough from sign language interpreting) and have achieved levels of language development sufficient for them to excel in college-level course work. Others struggle and get relatively little from lectures, even with skilled interpreting. Not every deaf student comes to RIT knowing sign language; some learn it here, whereas some never do. In general, deaf students may depend far more on the visual aspect of classroom lectures and presentations than do their hearing peers.
Relatively minor modifications in lecture style can dramatically enhance deaf students' experiences in your classes. Taking pains to face the class while speaking (rather than speaking with your back to them) will enable some to understand you far better through their residual hearing and speechreading ability. To speech read, a student must have an unobstructed view of your face, so it is important not to let anything block that view when you are speaking to the class. Writing important announcements, assignments, key vocabulary and concepts on the board, and organizing it (through topic headers, outline format, and so on) is very helpful, both to your students and to notetakers recording information on behalf of deaf students. Providing handouts in class and/or on your personal web site for student reference is another way of enhancing the flow of information to deaf students (as well as to their hearing peers).
Some students may feel comfortable seeing you for help during your regular office hours, particularly if you display the ability and willingness to adapt to their communication needs. Helpful approaches include taking pains to enunciate words clearly, always facing the deaf person while speaking, writing technical words on the blackboard or on paper, and ensuring that your face is well illuminated with the light coming from behind you. Another approach that would be helpful to many students is fingerspelling key words. The shapes of the letters of the alphabet in fingerspelling and the signing of numbers can be learned directly from deaf students or through DSES faculty or NTID sign language faculty. Unless the classroom interpreter must leave immediately after your class ends (e. g., to interpret for another class), he or she would be happy to interpret for you and any deaf student with whom you'd like to speak. With advance notice, it's also possible to arrange for interpreting when a student is to meet you in your office.
How support services are arranged and assigned
Because of the daunting logistics of providing interpreting and notetaking services for hundreds of deaf students each quarter, certain sections of higher-demand courses are "designated" to receive these support services. These designations show up in the quarterly RIT Schedule of Courses used by students to plan their academic schedules. Even in the case of designated sections, deaf students wishing to receive interpreting and/or notetaking must fill out request forms (available through the Department of Science and Engineering Support). When all goes well, a notetaker and interpreter will have been assigned to each "covered" course section and will show up on the first day of class, along with deaf students. Occasionally there may be delays of several days or longer before interpreters and/or notetakers requested by students are assigned to a class, and occasionally it may prove impossible to find and assign an interpreter and/or notetaker for one or more days of the week.
A brief overview cannot possibly touch on all situations that may arise when you have deaf students in your classes. The Department of Science and Engineering Support welcomes and encourages you to contact us to discuss ways of enhancing the learning experience of deaf (and other) students in your classes and to collaborate in resolving any problems that may come up.
Further information
Please feel free to stop by the Department of Science and Engineering Support main office, located in the basement of the Science (Gosnell) Building, Gosnell A170, to ask for a copy, or to discuss any of the issues raised here.