Accommodations
(Interpreting, Notetaking, and Captioning Services)

 
  General Questions

• What is the purpose of academic accomodations?
  
• Will accommodations compromise the integrity of my class or academic program?
  
• How will I know that a student in my class is supposed to have an accommodation?
  
• How do I decide which accommodations are appropriate for a particular student?
  
• What is the role/responsibility of vocational/technical programs (less than two years) in providing accommodations?
  
     
  

• What is a qualified interpreter?
  
• How do I evaluate interpreters if I don’t know sign language myself?
  
• How do I assess the effectiveness of the communication accommodations?
  
• Who exactly is this person in my classroom signing next to me? Is he or she a student volunteering to do this for the deaf student?
  
• Certified?  In what?
  
• What are standard practices in postsecondary education in paying interpreters (minimums, portal to portal, etc.)?
  
• What do I do if I can’t find an interpreter?
  
• Do private colleges have to provide interpreters?
  
• Can you suspend the interpreter if the student doesn’t show up for class?
  
• Am I required to provide both an interpreter and a real-time captionist?
  
• What are the pros and cons of hiring interpreters/captionists staff vs. hourly?
  
• Do I have to provide communication accommodations for out-of-class activities?
  
• A student who is deaf enrolled in a course that is offered via the college’s distance learning network. Classes are located at various sites across the state and have a scheduled meeting time each week. The student has requested a sign language interpreter for this class. This class is also offered in an online format with no requirement for class meetings (and therefore, no need for an interpreter). Can we tell the student that s/he must take the course in the online format?
  
• An adult who is deaf is taking a photography class through the local technical institute. The technical institute said that since it is not an academic course, the school does not have to pay for interpreting services. The individual paid for the class; does he have to also pay for the interpreter?
  
• Is there anything special I need to do when I plan to show a film?
  
• What if I need to turn out the lights?
  
• Does this interpreter follow this same student of mine around all day every day?
  
• Is the interpreter going to tutor this deaf student?
  
• If the interpreter is not tutoring, why does s/he need a textbook?
  
• Is this person who is interpreting going to be sharing his or her ideas with the rest of the class?
  
• Will the interpreter be able to keep up with me?
  
• Why are there two interpreters?
  
• Great! There’s another colleague in my room. Can I ask one or both of these interpreters to be my classroom assistant?
  
     
  

• What do I do if I can’t find an interpreter?
  
• What are the pros and cons of paid notetakers vs. volunteer notetakers?
  
     
  

• Am I required to provide both an interpreter and a real-time captionist?
  
• What are the pros and cons of hiring interpreters/captionists staff vs. hourly?
  
• Is there anything special I need to do when I plan to show a film?
  
     
  
  

Postsecondary Education Consortium
Center on Deafness
Claxton Complex A239
The University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN  37996-3442
(865) 974-0607 (v/tdd)
(865) 974-3522 (fax)
E-mail address:  pec@utk.edu