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Shasta College - Disabilities glossary Category: Health and Medicine > Disabilities terms Date & country: 29/04/2018, USA Words: 44

Visual Alarms
A flashing light device that is placed into a building or facility alarm system. If single station audible alarms are provided then single station visual alarm signals should also be provided.

Wardens
Persons assigned as coordinators of emergency actions by occupants of a single floor or part of a floor of a building.

Telecaptioned Television
Telecaptioned television is a broadcast television carrying a hidden or encoded English language caption of the audio signal. Decoders place white letters in black boxes in the bottom portion of the screen.

Strobe Lighting
A spot of higher than normal intensity in the sweep of a light indicator, as on a radar screen.

Symbols of Accessibility
Four pictograms required by the ADA Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG).

Text Telephone
Equipment that includes TTYs and employs interactive graphic communications through transmission of coded signals across the standard telephone network.

Slate and Stylus
The traditional method for writing Braille is by hand. Slates are made of metal or plastic frames or guides. A pointed steel punch with a handle called a stylus is used to punch the Braille dots. Each guide or frame consists of two parts connected at the left end by a hinge. The face of the bottom of the frame is pitted with four lines of a series of six small, round depressions corresponding to the shape and spacing of the dots of the Braille cell. To write on a slate, paper is inserted between the top and bottom of the frame and is held in place by small pins. The Braille dots are punched downward into the paper. This makes it necessary to write from right to left in order that, when the paper is turned over in position for reading, the Braille characters can be read from left to right.

Sighted Guide
When serving as a sighted guide for an individual who is blind, and only when that person has agreed to accept assistance, let the person take your arm (right or left depending on the person's preference.) Walk about one-half step ahead. She/he will follow the motion of your body.

Sighted Guide
A sighted guide is a person who physically assists an individual who is blind, only when that person has agreed to accept assistance.

Sign Language
American Sign Language (ASL) is one form of manual communication used by Americans who are deaf. Sign language is not universal. Persons who are deaf from different countries use different sign languages. The gestures or symbols in sign language are organized in a linguistic way. Each individual gesture is called a sign. Each sign has three distinct parts: the hand shape, the position of the hand, and the movement of the hands. The ways in which the signs of ASL are combined are unique to it. They are not based on English or any other spoken language. Two sign systems, which are based on English, are Signed Exact English and Signed English. The three systems have elements in common, but the majority of Americans who are deaf and who use sign language uses American Sign Language.

Reader
A reader is a person who reads printed material aloud to a blind person or one with low vision or on to audiotape for later playback.

Reading Machines
These devices convert printed materials as found in books, magazines, periodicals, typewritten letters and reports, as well as online computer programs and the World Wide Web, in different type-styles and sizes of type, into spoken synthetic English speech.

Recorded Books
Recordings for the Blind (RFB), a national non-profit voluntary organization which is supported primarily by contributions from the public, provides taped educational books, free on loan, to print-impaired elementary, high school, college and graduate students, as well as to non-students who require specialized reading material in their professions or vocations.

Reasonable Accommodations
Reasonable accommodations are defined as modifications to a job or the work environment that enable a qualified applicant or employee with a disability to perform essential job functions of the position.

Residual Hearing
Residual hearing is the amount of hearing remaining after hearing loss.Few people hear no sound at all, although for purposes of communication, they are considered to be deaf.

Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf
The Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) Inc., a national organization with over 50 chapters, was organized in 1964 for the purpose of providing interpreting services to the deaf of America and its trust territories. In addition, the RID has members from other nations. The RID provides certification of interpreters and a grievance process for clients to file a complaint about a certified interpreter who does not comply with the RID Code of Ethics.

Ramp
A ramp should be at least 4 feet in width and have a gradient no greater than 1:12. (The incline should be no greater than one inch to every 12 inches of length).

Mouth Wand
A mouth wand is a rod with a tooth grip that is held in the mouth and used to perform tasks that would ordinarily be performed by hand.

Open-Captioned
White letters in black boxes in the bottom portion of television or film screen.

Paperless Braille Machines
These devices record and store Braille characters on magnetic tape cassettes from a Braille keyboard. Playback is through a paperless display panel or reading board. A 60-minute cassette can store up to 400 pages of Braille.

International Symbol of Accessibility
The most recognizable Symbol of Accessibility, which we call the International Symbol of Accessibility, or ISA, is often known as the wheelchair symbol.

Mobility Impairment
Is a reduced function of legs and feet, which may lead to using a wheelchair or artificial aids to assist in walking. In addition to people who are born with a disability, this group includes a large number of people whose condition is caused by age or accidents.

Monitors
This term is given to those assigned and identified as lead participants in an emergency evacuation plan.

Interpreter
An interpreter is a professional who assists persons who are deaf or hard of hearing in communicating with people who cannot sign.

Head Pointer
A head pointer is a stick or rod which is attached to a person's head by means of a head band so that by moving the head an individual can perform tasks that would ordinarily be performed by hand or finger movement.

Hearing Aid
A hearing aid consists of a receiver and amplifier of sound. All sounds in the environment are amplified with the same intensity. A hearing aid does not sort, process, or discriminate among sounds. Because someone is wearing a hearing aid it does not mean that the person can hear normally. Aids do not correct hearing, but they improve hearing in some people.

Hard of Hearing
Refers to individuals who have some hearing, are able to use it for communication purposes, and who feel reasonably comfortable doing so. A hard of hearing person, in audiological terms, may have a mild to moderate hearing loss.

Finger Spelling
When no sign exists for a thought or concept, the word can be spelled out using the American manual alphabet. It is also used for titles, proper names, and convenience.

Fire Warden
A volunteer employee who is responsible for implementing a safe evacuation plan for his unit and/or other employees on his building floor.

EVACU-TRAC(tm)
Developed in Switzerland, this device is used to assist a person with mobility impairment to descend stairs in the evacuation of a building.

EVAC+CHAIR(tm)
An emergency evacuation device that can assist a person with mobility impairment to descend stairs to evacuate a building.

Curb Cut
Also called a curb ramp, it is a depression built into the curb of a sidewalk to permit passage by a wheelchair. The incline should not exceed a gradient of 1:12 and the flat surface width should be no less than 4 feet wide.

Detectable Warnings
A standardized surface feature built in or applied to walking surfaces or other elements to warn visually impaired people of hazards on a circulation path.

Egress
A continuous and unobstructed way of exit travel from any point in a building or facility to a public way. A means of egress comprises vertical and horizontal travel and may include intervening room spaces, doorways, hallways, corridors, passageways, balconies, ramps, stairs, enclosures, lobbies, horizontal exits, courts and yards. An accessible means of egress is one that complies with the ADA Accessibility Guidelines and does not include stairs, steps, or escalators. Areas of rescue assistance or evacuation elevators may be included as part of accessible means of egress.

Closed Circuit TV Magnifier - CCTV
A CCTV consists of a television camera which views the printed page or other materials and a television monitor which displays the image in enlarged form. Light and dark contrast can be adjusted. Most models allow reversing the image from black on white to white on black depending on individual needs.

Brailled books are books with brailled text, rather than printed text.
Most of the legally blind population does not read Braille. About 7-1/2 percent of this population use Braille as their primary reading mode.

Buddy System
The system of assigning the appropriate individual(s) to assist in the evacuation of persons with disabilities.

Captioned Films
Public Law 85-905 established the Captioned Films Program to provide for the distribution of captioned films through appropriate agencies to bring to persons who are deaf or blind an understanding and appreciation of those films that play a part in the general and cultural advancement of society. Captioning is available in print subtitles for persons who are deaf, and descriptive voice-overs for persons who are blind or visually impaired.

Audible Alarms
Alarms that produce a sound that exceeds the prevailing equivalent sound level in the room or space by at least 15 dbA or exceeds any maximum sound level with a duration of 60 seconds by 5 dbA, whichever is louder.

Brailler
The Perkins Brailler is an all-purpose braillewriter enclosed in a baked gray enamel aluminum case. Six keys operate it. There are spacing, line advancing, and backspacing keys. Extension keys are available which allow the user to emboss the full Braille cell by one stroke of either hand leaving the other hand free to read brailled material, which is being copied.

Assistive Technology
Any item, piece of equipment, or product system that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities:

Assistive Device
Any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities.

Area of Rescue
An area, which has direct access to an exit, where people who are unable to use stairs may remain temporarily in safety to await further instructions or assistance during emergency evacuation.

ADAAG
The Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines