CODE OF VIRGINIA

PERSONS WHO ARE DEAF OR HARD-OF-HEARING DEFINED AND CATEGORIZED (§ 51.5-111)

For the purposes of this chapter, persons who are deaf or hard-of-hearing
include those who experience hearing losses that range from a mild hearing loss
to a profound hearing loss. They are categorized as follows:

   1.  Persons who are deaf are those whose hearing is totally impaired or whose
   hearing, with or without amplification, is so seriously impaired that the
   primary means of receiving spoken communication is through visual input such
   as lip-reading, sign language, finger spelling, reading or writing.

   2.  Persons who are hard-of-hearing are those whose hearing is impaired to an
   extent that makes hearing difficult but does not preclude the understanding of
   spoken communication through the ear alone, with or without a hearing aid.

HISTORY: 1984, c. 670, § 63.1-85.3:1; 2002, c. 747.