Challenge

You commonly use the terms “this,” “that,” “these,” “things,” “there,” in referring to items or locations in your classroom or lab setting. For example you might ask students to “move these things over there.”

Challenge with an interpreter or captionist present:

Deaf students and the interpreter or captionist will miss your reference.

Keep in mind that there is a processing time between what you say and when it is interpreted or captioned for deaf students. By the time a student’s eyes leave the interpreter or captionist you’re probably no longer pointing to the object or location.

You may find the interpreter or captionist interrupting you on a regular basis to clarify your attention.

Challenge without an interpreter or captionist present.

Hard-of-hearing students will miss your reference.

Keep in mind that a student who is successfully speechreading you will lose the stream of your words when he/she looks away to the location or object of your attention.

Strategies

The key strategies are:

• Use proper names – including technical terminology – when referencing items in this fashion, for example: “Move the small beaker to the table by the window.”

• Avoid terms like “this” and “that.”

• Allow time for students (and an interpreter or captionist if present) to reference the item or location so that the proper association is made.

• Label materials in a laboratory.