DOJ/DOE Joint Publication: Frequently Asked Questions on Effective Communication for Students with Hearing, Vision, or Speech Disabilities in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools

2. What are examples of auxiliary aids and services for students with hearing, vision, and speech disabilities?

Answer. In general, auxiliary aids and services make aurally or visually delivered information available to students with hearing, vision, or speech disabilities so that they can receive information from, and convey information to, others as effectively as students without disabilities. Auxiliary aids and services include a wide range of services, devices, technologies, and methods for providing effective communication, as well as the acquisition or modification of equipment or devices.

The Title II regulation lists examples of some, but not all, of these kinds of auxiliary aids and services.²³ For a person who is deaf, deaf‐blind, or hard of hearing, some examples of auxiliary aids and services are interpreters, note takers, exchange of written materials, real‐time computer‐aided transcription services (e.g., CART), assistive listening systems, accessible electronic and information technology, and open and closed captioning.

Interpreters must be qualified.²⁴ This means that the interpreter must be able to interpret both receptively (having the skill needed to understand what the person with a disability is saying) and expressively (having the skill needed to convey information to the person with a disability). For example, an interpreter must be able to sign to the person who is deaf what is being said by the hearing person, and voice to the hearing person what is being signed by the person who is deaf. This communication must be conveyed effectively, accurately, and impartially, using any appropriate specialized vocabulary.²⁵ Thus, a teacher or other staff member who signs “pretty well” is not a qualified interpreter. Being able to sign “pretty well” does not mean that a person can process spoken communication into proper signs; nor does it mean that he or she has the proper skills to observe the person signing and change the signed or finger‐spelled communication into spoken words.²⁶ 

For a person who is blind, deaf‐blind, or has low vision, some examples of auxiliary aids and services are qualified readers, taped texts, audio recordings, Braille materials and displays, screen reader software, magnification software, optical readers, secondary auditory programs (SAP); large print materials; and accessible electronic and information technology.

For a person with a speech disability, some examples of auxiliary aids or services are a word or letter board, writing materials, spelling to communicate, a qualified sign language interpreter, taped texts, a computer, a portable device that writes and/or produces speech, and telecommunications services.

In general, the services, devices, technologies and methods for providing effective communication that are “auxiliary aids and services” under Title II could also be provided under the IDEA as part of FAPE.