Rights of People who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing

There are important regulations that provide for specific services and access accommodations under the law. Each of these laws is summarized with links to definitions and additional information as well as websites for the agencies.

Funding Considerations

Individual agencies have specific criteria and application procedures that must be followed when making a funding request. Always provide the necessary documentation that is requested. Frequently funding requests are denied and must be resubmitted. All teens and young adults should contact their local Vocational Rehabilitation office to meet with a counselor to discuss benefits for personal hearing instruments, assistive technology, college and job training as well as other potential services.

Securing Hearing Assistance Technology

Securing funding and appropriate hearing assistance technology can be a navigation nightmare often requiring substantial time of the professionals involved. Some considerations when working through this process are:

            • Collaboration among audiologists It is critical for clinical and educational
               audiologists to collaborate with each other when recommending any new hearing 
               technology. Keeping the lines of communication open between the audiologist, the
               school, the teen and the teen’s family will reduce the risk of incompatibility of 
               technology, extra costs, confusion for the teen/family, and possible resistance to
               using the technology. After high school graduation, the clinical audiologist becomes
               the primary provider of hearing assistance technology since the public school
               system is no longer involved.

            • Device selection considerations Audiologists should work with teens/young adults
               to determine the most appropriate hearing assistance technology option(s) based
               on the individual hearing instrument(s) and the communication and listening
               environments encountered. In addition, the audiologists should assist them to
               acquire the information they need to advocate for their individual hearing
               technology needs and other accommodations that are necessary. Audiologists may
               also need to provide written recommendations to the entities that are involved       
               with providing the accommodations.  Some settings, such as colleges and
               universities who frequently serve young adults with hearing loss, may have their
               own hearing assistance technology for students. It is common to find older
               technology that has greater transmission interference and compatibility issues with
               the digital hearing instruments currently used by most users.  Audiologists can 
               work with these entities to help them learn about appropriate hearing assistance
               technologies and how to acquire them.

Some users may own their own FM system either as part of a hearing instrument package
that includes FM or by purchasing it separately. In these situations the user can choose whether to use their own technology or the technology provided by the entity (e.g., college, job training, employer). ADA applies in either situation.