[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 34, Volume 2]
[Revised as of July 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 34CFR396.4]

[Page 477-478]
 
                           TITLE 34--EDUCATION
 
            REHABILITATIVE SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
 
PART 396--TRAINING OF INTERPRETERS FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE DEAF AND INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE DEAF-BLIND--Table of Contents
 
                           Subpart A--General
 
Sec.  396.4  What definitions apply?

    (a) Definitions in EDGAR. The following terms defined in 34 CFR 77.1 
apply to this part:


Applicant

Application

Award

Equipment

Grant

Nonprofit

Private

Project

Public

Secretary

Supplies

    (b) Definitions in the rehabilitation training regulations. The 
following terms defined in 34 CFR 385.4(b) apply to this part:
    Individual With a Disability
    Institution of Higher Education

[[Page 478]]

    (c) Other definitions. The following definitions also apply to this 
part:
    Existing program that has demonstrated its capacity for providing 
interpreter training services means an established program with--
    (1) A record of training interpreters who are serving the deaf and 
deaf-blind communities; and
    (2) An established curriculum that is suitable for training 
interpreters.
    Individual who is deaf means an individual who has a hearing 
impairment of such severity that the individual must depend primarily 
upon visual modes, such as sign language, lip reading, and gestures, or 
reading and writing to facilitate communication.
    Individual who is deaf-blind means an individual--
    (1)(i) Who has a central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the 
better eye with corrective lenses, or a field defect such that the 
peripheral diameter of visual field subtends an angular distance no 
greater than 20 degrees, or a progressive visual loss having a prognosis 
leading to one or both of these conditions;
    (ii) Who has a chronic hearing impairment so severe that most speech 
cannot be understood with optimum amplification, or a progressive 
hearing loss having a prognosis leading to this condition; and
    (iii) For whom the combination of impairments described in 
paragraphs (1)(i) and (ii) of this definition causes extreme difficulty 
in attaining independence in daily life activities, achieving 
psychosocial adjustment, or obtaining a vocation;
    (2) Who, despite the inability to be measured accurately for hearing 
and vision loss due to cognitive or behavioral constraints, or both, can 
be determined through functional and performance assessment to have 
severe hearing and visual disabilities that cause extreme difficulty in 
attaining independence in daily life activities, achieving psychosocial 
adjustment, or obtaining vocational objectives; or
    (3) Who meets any other requirements that the Secretary may 
prescribe.
    Interpreter for individuals who are deaf means a qualified 
professional who uses sign language skills, cued speech, or oral 
interpreting skills, as appropriate to the needs of individuals who are 
deaf, to facilitate communication between individuals who are deaf and 
other individuals.
    Interpreter for individuals who are deaf-blind means a qualified 
professional who uses tactile or other manual language or fingerspelling 
modes, as appropriate to the needs of individuals who are deaf-blind, to 
facilitate communication between individuals who are deaf-blind and 
other individuals.
    Qualified professional means an individual who has either--
    (1) Met existing national or state certification or evaluation 
requirements; or
    (2) Successfully demonstrated equivalent interpreting skills through 
prior work experience.

(Authority: 29 U.S.C. 711(c) and 771a(f); 29 U.S.C 1905)