My First Class Ever With Interpreters

[Recover5302]

Good for you! but i have a few questions....Y didnt you have an interpreter before?

but also I wanted to know I have a notetaker and I have an interpreter...what did your terp say about you looking away from them...? Example: even though I have a notetaker I sometimes want to check my paper and its hard to look at her and check the overhead answers and everything its nearly impossible to look at the terp the whole time...thanks for your advice if you reply.

also how did your peers look lol i noticed they were so interested when my terp finally showed up lol..i dont know wheter to feel proud or embarassed lol

WHOOOO HOOOOO!!!
I just had my first class EVER with Interpreters.. and BOY did I ever enjoy it. The material itself was kinda boring, but for the first time ever in University I was able to understand the lecture, the student comments/answers, and participate (in the hand raising stuff, i could have answered questions but chose not to).

I am one HAPPY camper! I just hope that my other pair of interpreters is as good as these ones and I'm set to go!
FYI my interpreters are doing:
-ASL signs in a slightly more english word order
-mouthing the english word so that I can lipread the signs I don't know


Thanks,
*EQL*

 

[evil_queen_lisa]

Good for you! but i have a few questions....Y didnt you have an interpreter before?

but also I wanted to know I have a notetaker and I have an interpreter...what did your terp say about you looking away from them...? Example: even though I have a notetaker I sometimes want to check my paper and its hard to look at her and check the overhead answers and everything its nearly impossible to look at the terp the whole time...thanks for your advice if you reply.

also how did your peers look lol i noticed they were so interested when my terp finally showed up lol..i dont know wheter to feel proud or embarassed lol

Why didn't I have an interpreter before? - at first I was able to use an FM okay but as my hearing deteriorated it got harder and harder. In May I asked for interpreters starting in September but the school was unable to find any, instead they provided me with a real time notetaker. They finally found me interpreters for this semester and I LOVE it.

Looking away from the interpreter - my profs all provide me with a copy of their lectures before hand so that I can review them and be prepared. Generally I don't look away unless I absolutely must. Sometimes my terp will keep interpreting, and sometimes they will wait for the to look back at them. Try talking to your interpreter about it.

Peers - This is my 3rd year in university (5th year post-secondary overall). I have 3 courses this semester that require terps (my 4th class is an ASL class which i'm taking for the grammar and vocab aspects). One is a first year classics course, so I didn't bother explaining anything to them since they didn't know me without an interpreter. Another class is a 4th year class, again, most don't know me without an interpreter. The one 3rd year class i have, I took 5 minutes during the start of the first lecture and explained to the class a bit about myself: that i have a progressive hearing loss and am now deaf, which is why they have seen me use a variety of accommodations over the years. I explained the roll of the interpreter and how they can help facilitate communication between us.
Overall my peers seemed to except it okay, although i do notice that many people do not want to work with me in their group. I did explain that I can lipread, but i think they probably are just scared of what they don't know. Most are good though.

hope this helps,
*EQL*