Deaf/hearing impaired
You are missing some Flash content that should appear here!
Assessment of your needs
Before you start your course, you will meet a qualified teacher of the deaf (TOD), who will carry out a specialist assessment of your needs from National Association for Tertiary Education for Deaf people –(NATED).
During the assessment, you will talk about the type of support you may need, for example communication support worker (CSW), electronic notetaker (ENT), manual notetaker (MNT) or educational support worker (ESW)
Communication support workers (CSWs)
The CSW will support you in class using BSL. They usually sit or stand near the tutor, facing you, and sign everything that the tutor says and what other students say.
The CSW will also voice over everything that you sign. The CSW does not do your work for you or tell you the answers.
In class discussions you will see that sometimes hearing people say the answer before you. This is because there is a little bit of a time delay between what is being said by someone and the CSW signing the information to you. Your tutor should know this and give you time to answer.
CSWs will also change the wording of handouts so that the English is clearer for you and you can ask them to look at your written work so they can check the English and help you to change it.
Educational support workers (ESWs)
An educational support worker (ESW) is a person who is deaf and who works with deaf students using simple and very clear British Sign Language (BSL) to match the student’s needs. The ESW works in classes of deaf students where the tutor is using BSL. Sometimes, the ESW goes into a mainstream class with a deaf learner.
Notetaking
A professional notetaker takes notes for deaf learners in classroom sessions so that they get equal access to spoken information. They can take notes manually with pen and paper or electronically with laptops. The learner decides which type of notes they prefer.
What should you do?
- Make sure that you have disclosed on your application and/or enrolment form.
- If you are on a course, ask for a referral through your tutor or visit your student services team, or e-mail to the address below.
For further information contact: deafservice@themanchestercollege.ac.uk