The nights are getting darker, and X-factor is about to begin, signalling the end of the summer and the beginning of the academic year 2014/15.
Deaf students will be leaving the comfort of home and entering the scary and independent world of University, where deaf students tend to make up less than 0.01% of a University population.
Therefore the already daunting task of finding like minded friends to commiserate leaving home with will be near impossible. Looking at the end of the course, it’s scarier that only 1 in every 4 deaf students will actually graduate.
Here are 5 tips a University can adopt to turn their deaf students into deaf graduates:
1. Understand the specific needs of the deaf student
This can be very tricky, as this could be the student’s first independent experiences they have had, as they have had all of their support arranged for them up until now.
They may not be fully aware of the choices that are available to them and what may suit them best in a University environment.
2. Supply the appropriate Communication professional
Here is a run-down of the key BSL Communication Professionals:
- Sign Language Interpreter (SLI) – a BSL level 6 qualified interpreter that conveys spoken and written information from one language to another without adding or omitting information, with full respect of confidentiality.
- Communication Support Worker (CSW) – a BSL level 3 qualified interpreter or below with same responsibilities as an SLI.
- Lipspeaker – A hearing person who is professionally trained to be easy to lipread. They use facial expression, gesture and fingerspelling to aid understanding.
- Notetakers – provide manual or electronic notetaking services for Deaf and hard of hearing people. Both produce a summary rather than detailed notes. Notetakers are useful when a student needs to observe a tutor or lipspeaker.
- Speech to text reporter (STTR) – listens to what is said and inputs it, verbatim, onto an electronic shorthard keyboard. An STTR can produce 200+ words a minute and includes laughter and applause within the notes.
- Deaf Blind Manual – conveys information to a deafblind person using hands on signing. The deafblind user receives communication through holding and touching the hands of an interpreter.
3. Choose a BSL interpreter over a CSW where you can
BSL interpreters are always the recommended choice in Education, as a CSW has not completed their interpreter training.
Although CSW’s are the cheaper option, employing one to convey dynamic and sophisticated information could hinder the student’s learning, particularly when it comes to exams.
Level 6 Qualified interpreters are more capable of conveying complex information and new words into identifiable BSL signs.
4. Book high-quality Communication Support
University tutors may believe that any communication support equals a normal University life. However, hearing students gain a lot of insight though listening to tutors and the people around them.
A tried and tested Communication professional can enable the deaf student to absorb the learning environment as effectively as other students.
From a personal perspective, deaf students typically don’t enjoy Freshers Week. They are new to the academic environment and town and need to get to know others to fully enjoy their time at University.
Ensure that you book communication support to break down barriers between deaf students and their hearing peers.
5. Guide Deaf People who do not view themselves as disabled.
Deaf people do not view themselves as disabled in the traditional sense. They see themselves more as a cultural minority because they use a different language.
This often means they do not apply for DSA until quite late in the day, because they do not realise DISABLED students allowance is something they need.
By following these tips, you should be able to hit the ground running with your deaf students and allow you to develop an inclusive and accessible environment for them to thrive in.
Victoria Williams is a Registered Sign Language Interpreter (RSLI) and runs terptree, a business that provides interpreting and additional services in order to support the Deaf community. Follow her on Twitter: @terptree The Limping Chicken is the UK’s deaf blogs and news website, and is the world’s 6th most popular disability blog. Make sure you never miss a post by finding out how to follow us, and don’t forget to check out what our supporters provide:
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B
September 5, 2014
I enjoyed Freshers Week thanks
pennybsl
September 5, 2014
Clear advice and good pointers in the article.
However, there are real issues about the Disabled Students’ Allowance this term; already we have read/heard about rumblings of “earlier than predicted” cutbacks and restrictions of the DSA amongst some Deaf University applicants / undergraduates.
Earlier this year, the Government announced cutbacks to the DSA from September 2015 without proper consultation and no impact assessment upon the potential of Deaf & Disabled graduates in the workforce.
Those ‘reforms’ also plan to force Universities to foot the support bill, a crazy idea which put Deaf & Disabled students’ progression in peril – because all Universities are knuckling under the current fees situation.
The Government seemed to have caused new barriers by implementing constraints prematurely, like the way Access To Work ‘reforms’ caused serious upheaval in many Deaf professionals’ workplaces in the past 12 months.
The cutbacks concern mainly on equipment, but even last night I had a Facetime chat with a trainee teacher who felt her university’s attitude towards Deaf/Disabled students seemed fishy with comments about using agencies without asking her about quality of support.
This is a real concern even for professionals like Vanessa, because what the Government is causing is undermining the quality standards of University support.
Organisations like the NDCS (they want evidence from Deaf applicants and students under 25 ASAP – contact the Campaigns Team), BATOD, ADEPT and trade unions are already aware of the latest challenges.
Tim
September 5, 2014
Excellent article and as it makes clear, it is the University’s responsibility to welcome Deaf students and meet their needs.
Natalya
September 5, 2014
Nice outline of communication roles for deaf students – short and clear which many aren’t.
I’ll reiterate my blog posts on the DSA changes for 2015-16 just cos I have seen some inaccuracies around deaf communities. http://natalyad.dreamwidth.org/tag/dsa
Tutors shouldn’t usually have anything to do with booking a deaf student’s support, most institutions have a disability officer or team of them depending on the size. Institutions should be able to put some kind of interim support in place while DSA waits to come through, but students do need to apply (universities are not legally obliged to provide support which is fundable through DSA if the student doesn’t try to apply). Also many deaf students’ support maxes out DSA, this shouldn’t be an issue students have to worry about but often ends up being so. We don’t use CSWs at our university, we usually aim for NRPCD RSLIs where possible but sometimes students have liked someone who is very close to registration but still TSLI which is fine as long as they know it is their choice.
I will come back and reply properly, as I have lots of random thoughts but I need to go to work and not get distracted by the Internet. 🙂
rachel
September 5, 2014
Point 3. Choose a BSL interpreter over a CSW where you can…. That’s an interesting one as you go on to mention that a level 6 qualified interpreter are more capable to conveying complex information and new words into identifiable BSL signs. That would be true if you had a level 2 CSW but in today’s market that just isn’t true. Most of the CSW’s Deaf Umbrella employ (not freelance) are level 6 qualified and level 4 CSW’s. They have subject specific knowledge and when working at University level are holders of University degrees themselves.
My top tip for choosing support would be to ask what level of education the CSW holds, their level of BSL qualification and their experience. You could be working with an interpreter who has no experience of working within a University and certainly has no subject specific knowledge – Top Tip: ASK. 🙂
Cathy Alexandeŕ
September 7, 2014
Rachel, I would like to say that it is not entirely true that a level 6 interpreter is brilliant at translating English into BSL.
I have met many interpreters over the years and it never fails to amaze me when they start signing and am thinking they cant be level 6 surely, they look like level 2 or 3!!!
How can this be so? What does level 6 involve exactly and what subjects do they learn to translate? I doubt many grass roots deaf people know exactly what level 6 entails.
This means some SLI could be no better than CSW’s! The whole system of BSL needs a drastic overall. The main reason the numbers changed from level 3 to a 6 was to give BSL a greater academic profile, I do not see that the system was changed with deaf people in mind: no, it was so that hearing people could turn round and say: “I have a degree in Sign Language!” Yet the deaf community still have problems with interpreters and still complain!
We have a long way to go before these kind of problems are all ironed out, especially at university level, little wonder only 1 in 4 deaf people graduate!
Catherine
September 5, 2014
Rachel – in some cases you get an exceptional CSW, but for the most part CSW’s just do not have the ability to interpret multiple streams of information (lecturers and students during class discussion). So I 110% agree with the article, an RSLI has finished their interpreter training and have enough skills to be able to find BSL signs to translate new or complex information.
CSW’s are not registered Communication Professionals with the NRCPD so there is much higher risk to a student’s education if one of these are chosen.
peterprovins
September 5, 2014
Dear Victoria,
Nice article. I would only add that if you want speech to text these can now be provided remotely and picked up on ipads, smartphones, tablets, laptops or whiteboards. You don’t even need to be in the lecture actually to see the words being spoken. I agree that BSL is the right option for some deaf students but we are able to provide subtitles anywhere whether you are in a lecture, on a placement or on the road, provided we can hear what is being said and you have internet access. This can be useful, plus we can interpret complex lectures that prove challenging in BSL. a full transcript is included with the service and delivered in 3 working hours. Once again this is available to every student.
If students use us then any number of support workers and other students can be given the service for free. If universities are going to have to finance the support of disabled students we believe that we can offer a viable compromise. Demonstrations or test lectures are available to every university. We want to offer closed captioning for live lectures and recorded material where so little is being subtitled.
Natalya
September 8, 2014
Right, finally at a PC with brain enough to reply more coherently.
1) Absolutely right. Every deaf or HOH person is different. Audiometry is only part of the story, experience, history, education, and personal preferences always matter.
Also deaf students who haven’t come to university don’t know what they cannot know – they haven’t tried it yet. It is OK to contact your disability adviser and let them know you’re struggling, even if you don’t have an answer or solution.
2 and 3) Absolutely agree here. We don’t use CSWs at my university unless a student insists on them, and we would be very careful to ensure that the student understood the risk of not using a RSLI (we sometimes use a TSLI if the student likes them).
The key thing is ensuring the student knows what each of these professionals can do and that they have a chance to make their own choices within what is realistic (i.e availability for example). Different courses present different challenges, STTR can be difficult for mathematical subjects for example.
4) University tutors at my university rarely book communication support, mostly if it’s for interviews. Students should be clear about the quality expected and advise academics to ask the disability department for advice. PLEASE give the university plenty of time if you want communication support, it can take time for advice to be sought and passed back around the university – especially if it a large institution!
Communication support is usually dictated by the student’s Disabled Students’ Allowances needs assessor or the disabled students’ adviser (or similarly named role).
You can go back and say if support isn’t working, there may be other solutions and ideas.
5) It’s a difficult one about guidance for students who don’t apply for Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSA). Universities are not required to fund support that students could get through DSA, so a message which needs to go out through the deaf community is that applying for DSA early is really really important.
There are BSL interpreted video guides to applying for DSA at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-o9jkufD47U&list=UUApAGTUUhDCeTOIiULUW-IA and other videos of interest with BSL interpretation. Deaf students aren’t the only ones who struggle with the “disability” label…
The UCAS videos at http://www.ucas.com are subtitled and the BSL ones are also subtitled and can sometimes explain vocabulary in a better way so I sometimes recommend those to non signing hard of hearing students too.
I also recommend students wanting communication support, or not even sure but thinking about it to contact disability services as early as possible. I can’t stress this enough, the sooner we know about students the better job we can do. We can support at any time, but it can take a little time to set stuff up if it’s quite last minute, especially booking professionals in for classes.