Definitions (Part I)

“ADA Coordinator” – This person is picked by the Commissioner. The Coordinator works for DCS. The Coordinator will work to check that DCS follows the ADA law.

“Appears to be Deaf or Hard of Hearing” means that there are four ways for DCS to know if you or anyone else is Deaf or Hard of Hearing. DCS can know if:

1. • DCS sees you or anyone else using sign language or gestures
   • DCS sees you or anyone else using a hearing aid, cochlear implant, or other technology to hear
   • You or anyone else tells DCS that you are Deaf or Hard of Hearing, or that spoken English will not work for sharing information
   • DCS sees that a person does not understand spoken English because of not hearing well enough

“Auxiliary Aids and Services” – There is a federal rule (28 C.F.R. § 35.104) that explains what “auxiliary aids and services” means. Some examples are:

• Qualified Interpreters in person or online through Video Remote Interpreting services
• People who take notes
• Captions on a computer at the same time that someone speaks
• Written information
• Writing back and forth
• A speaker you can put on a phone to make sounds from the phone louder
• Other things to make sounds louder
• Phones that will work with hearing aids
• Closed caption boxes so the captions show up on the TV
• Captions that are on the screen all the time, and other captions that you must turn on to see on the screen.
• Other phone products like:
  • TTY – text telephone
  • Videophone
  • Phones that will show captions while you talk
  • Other phone products that are effective
• Screens that show the words that someone is speaking
• Other technology that makes spoken English louder or writes English you can see
• Any other way someone can make spoken English louder or written down so that Deaf and Hard of Hearing people have access.

“Communication Assessment” – DCS will figure out which ways are best for you to understand information from DCS and communicate with DCS. There is a form you will fill out called the “DCS Communication Assessment Form.”

“Communication Assessment Form” – This is the paper DCS uses to decide the best method for DCS to use when communicating with you. This form will show information about your hearing disability. DCS will use this information to write a “Communication Plan.” Both Parties agreed on how the Communication Assessment Form will look. A copy is at the end of this document and is called Exhibit #1.

“Communication Plan” means that DCS will take the Communication Assessment Form and write a plan for how DCS will give you information. DCS might meet you in many different places. DCS may meet with you in different situations. DCS has many different types of information DCS might need to give you. DCS may use different ways to do that. Both Parties agreed on how the Communication Plan will look. A copy of what a Communication Plan looks like is at the end of this document and is called Exhibit #2.

“Critical Interactions” means that some meetings with DCS might be harder to understand and that you might have a bad result if you do not understand well. For example, Critical Interactions can mean:

• The first time you meet with a DCS officer to start your parole or probation. DCS will talk with you about all the rules you must follow. DCS will tell you if those rules change later. Sometimes DCS might talk to you about legal papers.
• A meeting where you might be arrested or be put back in prison and cannot have parole or probation anymore.
• A meeting where DCS is talking to you, and you are not allowed to leave. This might be in jail, in prison, or in another place where you are not allowed to leave.

“Deaf or Hard of Hearing” means a person who cannot understand spoken words without hearing aids or other devices that make sound louder. The ADA and the Rehabilitation Act says people like this have a disability.

“Effective Communication” means sharing information with people who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing in a way that is as good as how hearing people share information with other hearing people. This happens if people use the best way to communicate with a person by sharing information in a way that person can access.