Miss-Delectable
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Neighbors: BOCES interpreter helps deaf students communicate
Fifteen years ago, as a teacher's aide for Broome-Tioga BOCES, Karen Husted met a little boy who had trouble hearing.
"I got a book and learned how to do some signing with him," says Husted, of West Corners. She began with colors, simple one-word signs and numbers.
"I liked it," she says, and the following year, she transferred to the deaf program at BOCES.
"I took some classes, did some workshops, immersed myself in the local deaf community, went to their bowling tournaments and generally hung around with them."
She passed all applicable examinations and embarked on a new career route as an interpreter for deaf students. She has worked with about 20 such children of all ages.
Currently, BOCES serves about 15 students with 15 interpreters in about 10 districts, with a couple more in separate programs, too, explains Peggy Hathaway, supervisor of instructional programs for Broome-Tioga BOCES.
"Karen is just fantastic," says Hathaway, who's off from work as she recovers from double-knee surgeries. "She's got the ability to interact with whatever age group she's been assigned to, and she's got a great sense of humor and great personality. She makes the kids laugh."
This year, Husted is working with second-grader Claire Slawta at Nathan T. Hall Elementary School in Newark Valley.
"I'm there every day," says Husted, 43. "I go to every class and special with her. I don't go to lunch -- she's on her own there -- and I'm not required to go to playground, but I do sometimes."
Eight-year-old Claire, of Newark Valley, has been deaf from birth, although she wasn't diagnosed until she was a year old. She now has a cochlear implant, but it doesn't offer much help.
She has two brothers, Levi, 15, and Ben, 12. They, along with their parents, Laurie and Steven Slawta, learned to sign by taking classes, using books, videos and the Internet and interacting with friends in the deaf community.
The boys get stuck once in a while, but they always find a way to communicate with Claire.
If they can't figure out the signs to use to convey what they want to say, they write it, Laurie says.
It's a never-ending learning process, and part of that extends to cultural sensitivity.
"Hearing impaired" is a term not favored by the deaf community, because it implies a disability or impairment, she explains. "They don't consider themselves to be disabled or impaired. They consider themselves to be a language minority because they have a full rich language. Not everybody speaks Spanish, either."
An interpreter stays with a specific child for about three years, then is reassigned to another child.
"You need to stay neutral, not like a mother figure, so they have a normal school experience," she explains.
She and husband Tom have one child, 11-year-old Landon. She has no spare time to do the "freelancing" -- interpreting for deaf patients at medical appointments or such -- that some interpreters do.
"My true passion is working with children," she says. "I find it very rewarding and fulfilling. I enjoy my job very much. "
Fifteen years ago, as a teacher's aide for Broome-Tioga BOCES, Karen Husted met a little boy who had trouble hearing.
"I got a book and learned how to do some signing with him," says Husted, of West Corners. She began with colors, simple one-word signs and numbers.
"I liked it," she says, and the following year, she transferred to the deaf program at BOCES.
"I took some classes, did some workshops, immersed myself in the local deaf community, went to their bowling tournaments and generally hung around with them."
She passed all applicable examinations and embarked on a new career route as an interpreter for deaf students. She has worked with about 20 such children of all ages.
Currently, BOCES serves about 15 students with 15 interpreters in about 10 districts, with a couple more in separate programs, too, explains Peggy Hathaway, supervisor of instructional programs for Broome-Tioga BOCES.
"Karen is just fantastic," says Hathaway, who's off from work as she recovers from double-knee surgeries. "She's got the ability to interact with whatever age group she's been assigned to, and she's got a great sense of humor and great personality. She makes the kids laugh."
This year, Husted is working with second-grader Claire Slawta at Nathan T. Hall Elementary School in Newark Valley.
"I'm there every day," says Husted, 43. "I go to every class and special with her. I don't go to lunch -- she's on her own there -- and I'm not required to go to playground, but I do sometimes."
Eight-year-old Claire, of Newark Valley, has been deaf from birth, although she wasn't diagnosed until she was a year old. She now has a cochlear implant, but it doesn't offer much help.
She has two brothers, Levi, 15, and Ben, 12. They, along with their parents, Laurie and Steven Slawta, learned to sign by taking classes, using books, videos and the Internet and interacting with friends in the deaf community.
The boys get stuck once in a while, but they always find a way to communicate with Claire.
If they can't figure out the signs to use to convey what they want to say, they write it, Laurie says.
It's a never-ending learning process, and part of that extends to cultural sensitivity.
"Hearing impaired" is a term not favored by the deaf community, because it implies a disability or impairment, she explains. "They don't consider themselves to be disabled or impaired. They consider themselves to be a language minority because they have a full rich language. Not everybody speaks Spanish, either."
An interpreter stays with a specific child for about three years, then is reassigned to another child.
"You need to stay neutral, not like a mother figure, so they have a normal school experience," she explains.
She and husband Tom have one child, 11-year-old Landon. She has no spare time to do the "freelancing" -- interpreting for deaf patients at medical appointments or such -- that some interpreters do.
"My true passion is working with children," she says. "I find it very rewarding and fulfilling. I enjoy my job very much. "