Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) services may benefit students with hemiplegia. Traditionally used by the deaf community, CART is useful for students who may have difficulty understanding auditory information – information they hear.
CART can help the student understand what others are saying, especially in meetings, classrooms or large events. A CART provider uses a court reporting stenography machine, a computer and software to display everything that is being said, word or word. The text is displayed on a computer, television or projection screen. A provider can come to your event for onsite CART services. For remote CART services, the provider is offsite and the text appears on the computer or screen at your location.
The student can watch the CART screen during class and this is especially helpful for a student who is stronger in reading information than in hearing information. The student can also receive a written word-for-word transcription of the entire session.
Students who might benefit from CART may have some of the following challenges:
- difficulty understanding speech in noisy environments
- difficulty following directions, and discriminating (or telling the difference between) similar-sounding speech sounds
- behave as if a hearing loss is present
- often asking for repetition or clarification
- in school, children with APD may have difficulty with spelling, reading, and understanding information presented verbally in the classroom
- often performance in classes that don’t rely heavily on listening is much better and they typically are able to complete a task independently once they know what is expected of them
Several CHASA students have successfully qualified for CART services at community and 4-year universities. Some colleges will provide CART as part of a note-taking accommodation. Others may require a diagnosis of Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) or other hearing differences. It may be helpful if your audiologist makes a recommendation for CART in your audiology report. Contact your school’s office of disability accommodations for more information on CART services.
Other Resources
CHASA Adult Facebook Group – For adults who’ve had hemiplegia since childhood. Fill out the Contact Us form and ask to be added.
CHASA Parent Facebook Group – Parents of children, teens and adults who have a diagnosis of hemiplegia
Hemi-Kids Group – E-mail group for parents of children, teens and adults who have a diagnosis of hemiplegia; provides more privacy than social media groups
Communication Access Realtime Translation
