Deaf Services

Deaf Services

The word "deaf" is used to include persons who have any type of hearing loss. These persons may or may not have residual hearing and speech. There are various communication modalities used by the deaf population. IDHS-DRS work with deaf individuals to ensure individuals have the knowledge and skills needed to seek, obtain, and retain employment. We serve as a resource for internal and external partners, including persons within IDHS-DRS, other professionals, state agencies, as well as community organizations. We work to ensure that our partners have the information and resources needed to serve deaf persons.

Our Rehabilitation Counselors for the Deaf (RCDs) are trained to provide targeted services to individuals who are deaf to

• Develop an Individual Plan for Employment (IPE) outlining the services that will be provided.
• Ensure the individual receives the resources needed to obtain and maintain employment.
• Ensuring programs and services provide communication accessibility.

In FY 2023, we served more than 1600 persons who were deaf or hard of hearing. In addition to the free vocational rehabilitation services that are provided to all IDHS-DRS customers, persons who are deaf may receive assistance with

• rehabilitation technology purchases, including, but not limited to hearing aids, cochlear implant upgrades, and assistive listening devices.
• when appropriate, postsecondary training at national programs that provide total communication accessibility.
• in-house recommendations as it pertains to the use of sign language interpreters, Computer Assisted Real Time captioning (CART) services, and audiological services.

Programs

The Deaf History, Culture, and Arts is a non-profit organization that works to reframe what it means to be Deaf, leading towards existential & economic justice for all Deaf people. We make impact by providing classes, workshops, professional development and consultations either in-person or virtually.

Allies in Deafhood is offered to IDHS-DRS staff who do not have hearing loss. The Allies in Deafhood workshop focuses on how hearing persons can become allies to the Deaf community.

IDHS-DRS Deaf Services engages with the DeafBlind community. Persons who are DeafBlind have any degree of hearing and vision loss. We aim to provide DeafBlind customers with the technology and training needed to obtain and retain employment. Persons who are DeafBlind often miss visual and auditory cues in their environment. Some states in the U.S. have a Support Service Provider (SSP) program. SSPs are also known as Co-Navigators (CNs). These individuals provide the DeafBlind person with environmental information which empowers the DeafBlind person to make his or her own decisions. Title XX funds are currently being used to develop a support program.