The Background
Headquartered in West Lafayette, Indiana, Purdue University is a public research university that offers science, technology, and agriculture education. Purdue is widely known for its engineering programs, including agricultural and biological engineering, industrial engineering, aeronautics and astronautics. Purdue’s veterinary medicine program is ranked among the top 50 in the world, and the university is also known for its nursing, pharmacy, and speech pathology programs.
The Challenge
When Deaf students enroll at Purdue, the university’s Disability Resource Center works with LTC to ensure proper communication access for those students. The challenge is twofold. First, there are class dates and times to schedule, and teams of interpreters to assign to each student’s classes. Class schedules are typically fixed, but there are shifting needs that LTC’s scheduling needs to keep updating for afterhours study groups, labs, or other campus activities. The second challenge in accommodating Deaf students is the preparation and skill required of ASL interpreters who must interpret academic content that is highly complex and specialized. Interpreters prepare for such content with the same textbook and syllabus as the student. Working in teams, interpreters often need to improvise new signs for uncommon or specialized terms in the subjects of physics, engineering, and chemistry.
The Solution
LTC’s connection to the Deaf community rests with the many professional ASL interpreters we have built relationships with over decades. From this pool of professionals LTC handpicks the appropriately talented ASL interpreters for the challenging academic content to be interpreted. LTC’s scheduling team and interpreters work closely with Purdue’s Disability Resource Center to ensure class schedules are up-to-date and teams of interpreters are prepared and assigned, not only to every class, but to every activity the Deaf student may participate in on campus with hearing students.
The Results
Deaf students are afforded the same access to communication as hearing students. Not only is higher education made accessible to the Deaf, but also many other aspects of campus life are made accessible, including social clubs, student groups, and other events held on campus. LTCs success with accommodating Purdue’s Deaf students has let do many referrals to other university departments, graduate programs, and non-profit organizations holding speaker events on campus. These events are open to the public and are also inclusive of all Deaf attendees who want to participate. Through LTC, ASL interpreters are available year-round to interpret for a great diversity of organizers and subject matter.
About LTC
LTC Language Solutions is a language service provider (LSP) offering solutions for local and national companies, organizations, government agencies, and individuals since 1993. LTC provides language training, cross cultural training, interpretation, translation, repatriation, language assessments, interpreter and people skills training. LTC has gained a reputation for high-quality, customized services provided through long-term relationships, maintaining some of the same clients for over 30 years.
