Deafness refers to a situation whereby a person cannot hear. The persons that are hard of hearing and those suffering from tinnitus are categorized ad deaf. Deafness can be profound, severe, partial, or mild. In spite of the different degrees of hearing loss, anybody having hearing problem has the right to education and other social services (Taub, 2010). The following discussion relates to a deaf student enrolled in a university. Due to her personal and family beliefs, the student has never learned sign language. She reads lips in order to communicate. Although the student has requested very expensive adaptive equipment for use in her class, the university does not have funds to acquire the new equipment. However, there are many sign language interpreters in the university.
According to Polat (2003), hard of hearing students can be affected psychologically by change of environment. As such, learning institutions should be accommodative. Nowadays, hearing impairment does not have to be a problem for students in learning institutions considering the enactment of laws on equality opportunities and rights for all individuals. In addition, technology has enabled teaching especially for the students with disability to be easy. There are several teaching strategies that a faculty member can adopt to ensure that the student gets the best from the institution. First, the faculty member should put into consideration the problem presented, along with the laws governing provision of education to the students with disabilities. According to Bagenstos (n.d.), the faculty member and the university are not required to strain financially to accommodate a particular service in favor of a student with disability. However, the law mandates the faculty member to maintain the required standards when handling students with disability such as hearing impairments.
Thus, a faculty member is supposed to offer the student an appropriate chance to cope with the available resources and help him/her to make good use of university resources such as interpreters. With this regard, a faculty member should help the student to understand how to use sign language, as well as explain to the student the advantages of such a method in order to dispel negative attitudes the student may have about the use of sign language. The faculty member is tasked with a lot of responsibilities considering that there is a need to uphold the rights of deaf individuals and at the same time create awareness. A faculty member is supposed to offer the necessary support to ensure that the student gets used to the learning environment of the university and can use the available resources (Taub, 2010). In this case, the faculty member can offer support especially during lectures. This can be done through clear description of the course material, lecture presentation in formats such as overheads and chalkboard that are friendlier to the student. In addition, a faculty member can make the learning environment of the deaf student to be conducive by ensuring that the student is assigned to a volunteer to help in the interpretation. The application of the strategies that promote learning and self-awareness will ensure that the affected student acquires quality education without the use of the expensive equipment requested. The student gets used to the utilization of the available resources.
According to Kabasakal (2012), the use of the available resources eliminates the straining of the financial status of the university which would be against the Disability Act. Therefore, it is the mandate of the faculty member to put in place strategies that promote the wellbeing of the student in accordance with the legislations governing the education of students with disabilities.
Reference List
Bagenstos, S. (n.d.). The Americans with Disabilities Act as Welfare Reform. SSRN Journal, 3(2), 1-4.
Kabasakal, Z. (2012). The United States, Justice, and Human Rights. Journal of Human Rights, 11(3), 322-331.
Polat, F. (2003). Factors Affecting Psychosocial Adjustment of Deaf Students. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 8(3), 325-339.
Taub, D. (2010). Media Review: Inclusion and Diversity: Meeting the Needs of All Students. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 47(2), 65-69.