Information for Professors

Assistive Listening Devices
Hard of Hearing Student Services

Main Office: A255 Murphy Hall, (310) 825-1501 voice, (310) 206-6083 tty, (310) 825-9656 fax
Resource Room: 181 Powell Library, (310) 825-2651

Dan Levitt, Assistant Director & Coordinator - Deaf and Hard of Hearing Student Services, (310) 267-2005 voice, (310) 206-6083 tty, email: dlevitt@saonet.ucla.edu

What is an Assistive Listening Device?
The hard of hearing student in your class has been issued an Assistive Listening Device from the Office for Students with Disabilities to make hearing your lecture possible. An Assistive Listening Device is a miniaturized wireless microphone system with a small microphone that clips to your lapel and is connected to a pager-sized sending unit. The student can sit anywhere in the class and hear your lecture clearly. Near the beginning of the term the student will introduce him/herself to you and will give you the device before class starts each day so that you can have time to attach the microphone.

Hearing Loss
It is often difficult for students who are hard of hearing to hear faint or distant speech, discern subtle conversational cues, follow fast-paced verbal exchanges and hear the fine word-sound distinctions that denote plurality, tense, possessives, etc. Even students with slight hearing losses can have problems in these areas. A student with such a hearing impairment may miss critical sounds and lose general understanding. Academic potential may be easily compromised. For speech to be intelligible, the student must be able to discriminate the word-sound distinctions of individual phonemes. Otherwise, speech may be considered merely audible, meaning that the student is simply able to detect its presence. Hearing loss distorts or eliminates incoming sounds, especially sounds from a distance--even a short distance. Hearing loss itself is invisible, easily ignored, and its impact often underestimated.

Hearing in the Classroom
There are significant factors that affect hearing in the classroom including varying noise levels and the distance from the teacher, which can vary as the teacher moves back and forth. While it might seem that just talking louder should solve all listening problems, it doesn't. When someone speaks loudly, vowel energy is increased, but consonant energy is not increased to the same degree. Loud speech increases audibility, but it may decrease intelligibility! This is why an Assistive Listening Device is critical; the teacher's voice comes through very clearly (and at comfortable, conversational levels), it allows the student to adjust the volume on their receiving unit for the best possible comprehension level, and it eliminates all distracting noises.

Built-in Assistive Listening Devices
The following lecture halls are fitted with built-in assistive listening systems that work off the built-in microphone system. The student need not have you wear another microphone to hear you clearly. We will give them a special receiving unit which is compatible with the existing built-in infra-red listening system.

• Boelter 2444, 3400, 5249,5264, 5436
• Botany 325
• Bunche 1209B & 2209A
• Dodd 121, 146, 147, 161, 175
• Fowler A103, A139
• Franz 1178, 1260
• Haines A2, A18, A25, A44, 39, 118, 220
• Knudsen 1200B, 1220B, 1240B
• MS 4000A, 5117, 5118, 5127, 5128, 5137, 5138
• Moore 100
• Perloff 1102
• Public Policy 2214, 2232
• Rolfe 1200, 2126, 2135, 3126, 3134, 3135
• Royce 190, 362
• Wadsworth Theatre
• Young CS24, CS50, CS76, 2200, 4216

For More Information
Thank you for your assistance with this vital service. The UCLA Office for Students with Disabilities assists hearing impaired students in obtaining access to education at UCLA. This effort is consistent with the requirements of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, California State Law and UC Policies. This information has been prepared to help familiarize you with Assistive Listening Devices. If you have any questions, please call the Office for Students with Disabilities at (310) 825-1501.

If you would like this information in an alternative format, contact the Office for Students with Disabilities at (310) 825-1501 voice, (310) 206-6083 tty or (310) 825-9656 fax.

Revision 10/02/02 Assistive Listening Devices, Information for Professors.