kcrocker said:
I am at loss at this issue. I would appreicate that you can help me with this. What really happened in general is that often we the deaf parents would ask for an interpreter for any activites at school (school plays, parent/teacher meeting, etc.. you name it..) We often would get nasty atittude and heavy sighs on other end of line like it is a huge problem for them. They even would tell us that they don't have any money for an interpreter. After a small arugment, they would hire one and tell us we are very lucky to have intepreter being hired despite their "money problems".
I have wrote a letter to School district Superintendent to discuss on this issues. His attitude towards to us is " I was former Galludet professor for undergradate and I know what I am doing" attitude. Of course, he is hearing. I am not trying to degrade him at all but trying to point things out on what is going on in the school office and their attitude towards to deaf parents of hearing children. I was hoping that he can point it out to his office people to stop those kind of atttitude and its law to hire one.They arleady are making us feeling guilty to ask for one when we need one. They are acting like they are doing us a favor to hire an interpreter instead of acting according to Federal Law of ADA.
I just wanted to hear from you deaf parents or advocate of ILC on how they solved those similar issue or they did it to solve this issue.
Thank you...
Mill Neck Manor School for the Deaf (MNMSD)
Mark R. Prowatzke, Ph.D.
frostmill@aol.com
www.millneck.org
Public Schools
To refer others to this page, please use:
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This memorandum addresses the obligations of a public school system under Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Deaf or hard of hearing students, parents and others are entitled to a physically accessible facility and to services including qualified sign language interpreters when they need accommodations to have meaningful access to school activities. The ADA and Section 504 apply to all programs and activities offered by a school system, including school board meetings, extracurricular programs, teacher conferences, recreational activities, social and cultural activities, adult education, summer school or hobby classes.
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. §794, requires programs which receive federal financial assistance to provide interpreters or other auxiliary aids to people with disabilities when necessary to give them equal access to the program. See also 34 C.F.R. §§104.4 and 104.21. Public school systems receive substantial federal financial assistance, so this law applies to them. Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. 12101-12213, requires comparable access by all state and local government programs, regardless of whether or not the programs get federal assistance.
A separate federal law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), also affects children with disabilities. This law requires public school systems to provide a "free, appropriate public education" to children who need specialized services because of a disability. It establishes a procedure for developing an individual education program (IEP) and identifying needed support services for individual children. Although this is the principal law which determines the special educational services children will receive from a school system, Section 504 and the ADA provide additional protection, especially in the context of architectural accessibility, extracurricular activities, summer programs and services for parents and other individuals with disabilities.
The U.S. Department of Justice has promulgated regulations to implement Title II of the ADA, which applies to activities of public entities such as school systems. 28 C.F.R. Part 35. The accompanying Analysis specifically addresses the question of duties of school systems to provide accessibility to parents with disabilities:
Some commenters asked for clarification about the responsibilities of public school systems under section 504 and the ADA with respect to programs, services and activities that are not covered by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), including, for example, programs open to parents or to the public, graduation ceremonies, parent-teacher organization meetings, plays and other events open to the public, and adult education classes. Public school systems must comply with the ADA in all of their services, programs, or activities, including those that are open to parents or to the public. For instance, public school systems must provide program accessibility to parents and guardians with disabilities to these programs, activities, or services, and appropriate auxiliary aids and services whenever necessary to ensure effective communication, as long as the provision of the auxiliary aid results neither in an undue burden or in a fundamental alteration of the program.
56 Fed. Reg. 35696 (July 26, 1991).
The Title II regulations specifically address the obligation of a school board or other public entity to remove communication barriers for deaf individuals:
(a) A public entity shall take appropriate steps to ensure that communications with applicants, participants, and members of the public with disabilities are as effective as communications with others.
(b)(1) A public entity shall furnish appropriate auxiliary aids and services where necessary to afford an individual with a disability an equal opportunity to participate in, and enjoy the benefits of, a service, program, or activity conducted by a public entity.
(2) In determining what type of auxiliary aid and service is necessary, a public entity shall give primary consideration to the requests of the individual with disabilities.
28 C.F.R. §35.160. The regulation defines "auxiliary aids and services" to include:
Qualified interpreters, note takers, transcription services, written materials, telephone handset amplifiers, assistive listening devices, assistive listening systems, telephones compatible with hearing aids, closed caption decoders, open and closed captioning, telecommunications devices for deaf persons [TTYs], videotext displays, or other effective methods of making aurally delivered materials available to individuals with hearing impairments; . . . and . . . other similar services and actions.
28 C.F.R. §35.104.
The appropriate auxiliary aid depends on the context of the communication and the needs of the individual with disabilities. For example, in a school auditorium or a school board meeting, some deaf people may need a sign language interpreter to follow and participate in the proceedings. Other people with hearing impairments do not use sign language. They may need a computer-assisted transcript or an assistive listening system (e.g., a loop system or an FM or infrared amplification system) in order to understand and participate in the same activity. If the school has videotapes or films, or if it broadcasts on cable television, captioning may be the most appropriate way to give access to deaf viewers.
In order to make sure a deaf individual is alerted to a fire or other emergency, a school system should install visual (flashing) fire alarms in areas used by deaf individuals. Examples of accommodations for deaf persons include visible fire alarm systems, amplification systems that are compatible with hearing aids, entry systems that do not depend on ability to use an intercom or respond to a buzzer or other auditory device.
A telecommunication device for deaf persons (TTY) may be necessary, so that the school and parent can communicate directly about illnesses, schedules, discipline of a child and other problems.
The primary concern is whether or not the auxiliary aid or service is effective to make the spoken information available and to give the person with impaired hearing an opportunity to participate effectively. When there is a disagreement or uncertainty about the appropriate auxiliary aid, the regulations require the public agency to give "primary consideration" to the requests of the individual with disabilities. In analysis of this regulation, the Justice Department states:
. . . The public entity shall honor the choice [of the deaf individual for a particular auxiliary aid] unless it can demonstrate that another effective means of communication exists or that use of the means chosen would not be required under §35.164. Deference to the request of the individual with a disability is desirable because of the range of disabilities, the variety of auxiliary aids and services, and different circumstances requiring effective communication.
56 Fed. Reg. 35711-12 (July 26, 1991).
A federal court has ruled that school systems must provide interpreters when deaf parents meet with teachers or attend school programs such as orientation programs. Rothschild v. Grottenthaler, 907 F.2d 886 (2nd Cir. 1990). The Office for Civil Rights for the U.S. Department of Education has held that PTA programs and activities are covered by the ADA, in that the school district provides significant indirect assistance to the PTA. Irvine Unified School District, 19 IDELR 883 (OCR 1993).
The Office for Civil Rights has also determined that sign language interpreters permit deaf people to participate meaningfully in federally-assisted programs. It has ruled that public school systems must give access to extracurricular programs, and must give access when they offer services to parents as well as to students.
The agency may not assess any additional charge for the provision of an auxiliary aid or service. 28 C.F.R. §35.130(f).
School systems should routinely publicize the method that deaf persons can use to request necessary services such as interpreters. A public entity must have a procedure that a deaf person can use to request service at school system activities, accessible by TTY. TTY-accessible telephone numbers should be clearly identified in telephone directory listings, school system letterhead, and information disseminated about school system services.
Failure to provide a qualified sign language interpreter or other auxiliary aid or service for a deaf parent or child under these circumstances would be a discriminatory practice.
Any time a school building is altered or constructed, the building must meet the minimum standards in the ADA Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) or the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS), 28 C.F.R. §35.151. The ADAAG standards are published as Appendix A to 28 C.F.R. Part 36. The portions of ADAAG that are most relevant to deaf individuals are:
Emergency warnings and alarms §4.1.3(14), §4.28
Public telephones §4.1.3(17), §4.1.6(1)(e), §4.31.5
Assembly areas (assistive listening systems) §4.1.3(19)(b), §4.33.6, §4.33.7
Elevators §4.10.12(2), §4.10.13, §4.10.14
Signage §4.30.7
Visual devices in sleeping rooms §9.3.1, §9.3.2, A4.28.4
The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) Law and Advocacy Center prepared this material as informal guidance. This is not legal advice. The NAD assumes no liability for this material.
For additional information or technical assistance about how laws against disability discrimination apply to you, contact the NAD Law and Advocacy Center, 301-587-7730 Voice/TTY, 301-587-0234 FAX,
nadlaw@nad.org; a local attorney (for more information, see Get a Lawyer); or an enforcement agency (see list at
www.ada.gov or call 800-514-0301 Voice or 800-514-0383 TTY).
the more complaints against that university, the better. Best hit them in the pocketbook than a deaf person (a visitor, which means a potential student) not being able to know what's going on. Give them a dose of a bruised bank account. 
