Frustrated!!!

Bottesini said:
I am curious as to how you got a job for an D/B intervenor if you don't know ASL? I hope Mrs Bucket sees this and lets us know the standards for woriking in Canada.
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I do know ASL...but not at an Interpreter level! There is a big difference, here at least, between an Interpreter and an Intervenor... I work, under normal circumstances, with much younger students who are not in a regular academic program, and who often have additional issues aside from their deafblindness, and who may or may not be fully deaf or fully blind. Many of the students I work with are just learning that they can communicate with others. They use a number of different methods of communication, including PICs, sign language (which may or may not be ASL, depending on their abilities), tactile sign, etc.
 
chipmunkis said:
I do know ASL...but not at an Interpreter level! There is a big difference, here at least, between an Interpreter and an Intervenor... I work, under normal circumstances, with much younger students who are not in a regular academic program, and who often have additional issues aside from their deafblindness, and who may or may not be fully deaf or fully blind. Many of the students I work with are just learning that they can communicate with others. They use a number of different methods of communication, including PICs, sign language (which may or may not be ASL, depending on their abilities), tactile sign, etc.
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Interesting. I wonder how they develop their ASL>
 
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Bottesini said:
I am curious as to how you got a job for an D/B intervenor if you don't know ASL? I hope Mrs Bucket sees this and lets us know the standards for woriking in Canada.
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They do not need to know ASL to be an internevor, however it does limit your clients.
 
souggy said:
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They do not need to know ASL to be an internevor, however it does limit your clients.
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I would think so!

I was looking up the George Brown College program and it looks like there is good training available for those who want to be intervenors.
 
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Bottesini said:
souggy said:
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They do not need to know ASL to be an internevor, however it does limit your clients.
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I would think so!

I was looking up the George Brown College program and it looks like there is good training available for those who want to be intervenors.
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I had four or five intervernors assigned to me. Only one knew ASL, and that one was on a request basis. The others were for orientation before cellular GPS became commonplace.
 
Thanks, Reba; you have a way of putting things in the right perspective. I guess I should have treaded a little more carefully. Sorry, chipmunkis....
 
Reba said:
I think what Tousi meant was that by accepting the task once, you have set a precedence. Each time you accept the role of interpreter, even though you protest, the record will show that you did go along with the request.

To protect yourself, if you do it again, you might want to have your objection in writing and signed by you and the supervisor.
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Good topic! you are correct I agree you
 
It was not fair to the student or you. The student is not able to function at the optimum level in class, and you are not qualified. The student needs to be able to function at the optimum so that they can get the best grade possible. Someone is going to have to sit down with the student eventually if they get behind because they were not functioning at optimum.
As a future teacher I would not want this situation for the student or for you. The teacher should have some say of what is allowed in the classroom. If the student has an IEP plan that states that they must have an interpreter. This could become a legal issue between the school and a parent. The school legally has to follow the IEP plan. It would force the situation to be addressed without you having to get int he middle of it and your job would not be in jeopardy by speaking up.
 
Bottesini said:
Interesting. I wonder how they develop their ASL>
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A deafblind student who required and was capable of full communication through ASL would have an Intervenor with higher level signing.

It's not that I can't sign or that my ASL is terrible, but it's not fabulous and as I said, I am NOT an Interpreter. :(
 
Tousi said:
Thanks, Reba; you have a way of putting things in the right perspective. I guess I should have treaded a little more carefully. Sorry, chipmunkis....
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No need to apologize... I am just upset, and overly-sensitive right now.
 
Bottesini said:
Interesting. I wonder how they develop their ASL>
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That would be my question, too. I don't know as much about the role of intervenor but I know that public school interpreters not only interpret but also serve as sign language role models for their students (sometimes a good thing, sometimes a bad thing). It that case, it's expected that the interpreters would be more fluent and have more extensive sign vocabularies than their students.

Maybe the deaf ed teacher does the language training for the students? Some mainstream schools do it that way.

:dunno:
 
thumbelina said:
It was not fair to the student or you. The student is not able to function at the optimum level in class, and you are not qualified. The student needs to be able to function at the optimum so that they can get the best grade possible. Someone is going to have to sit down with the student eventually if they get behind because they were not functioning at optimum.
As a future teacher I would not want this situation for the student or for you. The teacher should have some say of what is allowed in the classroom. If the student has an IEP plan that states that they must have an interpreter. This could become a legal issue between the school and a parent. The school legally has to follow the IEP plan. It would force the situation to be addressed without you having to get int he middle of it and your job would not be in jeopardy by speaking up.
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I am writing a letter now, expressing my concerns with the situation, and I heard through the grapevine that the parents are not happy with this situation either, so hopefully they will hire another Interpreter. I know it's a small town, but this kid still deserves better than me.
 
chipmunkis said:
The student has an Interpreter, but there is no QUALIFIED backup. It seems that the District has decided that I will be the backup from here on, if his Interpreter is ill or away for any reason...and have talked about "training" me. No!!! I can not simply be "trained" to fill in when needed; he needs and DESERVES someone there who can actually communicate in his language at HIS level. He should not have to dumb things down for me!
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Things like this is examples of why deaf schools are much much better....
 
Reba said:
That would be my question, too. I don't know as much about the role of intervenor but I know that public school interpreters not only interpret but also serve as sign language role models for their students (sometimes a good thing, sometimes a bad thing). It that case, it's expected that the interpreters would be more fluent and have more extensive sign vocabularies than their students.

Maybe the deaf ed teacher does the language training for the students? Some mainstream schools do it that way.

:dunno:
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As I mentioned before, the DB students I work with do have additional issues, and I am more fluent and have a larger sign vocab than they do. I don't know all the DB students in the district, but I know that some don't use any sign language at all, using PICs and other modes of communication instead.

There is only one Deaf student in our district who is on a regular academic program who uses ASL... as far as I know he is the only one who has an Interpreter.
We have two or three others who have CI, and use very limited signing, and a couple who are on modified programs and required modified sign language. The deaf ed teacher works on the language development for them and they have support staff who sign for them but are not Interpreters.
 
chipmunkis said:
I am writing a letter now, expressing my concerns with the situation, and I heard through the grapevine that the parents are not happy with this situation either, so hopefully they will hire another Interpreter. I know it's a small town, but this kid still deserves better than me.
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That is good to hear. It is good that the parents are not happy with the situation. Sounds like you have a lot of people on your side. Small town or large town the student deserves better. I hope the district does hire another interpreter. What about hiring a parent would that be an option? or at least a temporary solution, it has happened at my old high school before?
 
chipmunkis said:
I am a Deafblind Intervenor...NOT an Interpreter. Today, I was sent to work with a Deaf high school student...because they have no one else to fill in when his Interpreter is ill. WTH??? I didn't have a choice, so in I went, but I told the kid that my signing is nowhere near what he needs but that I would do my best and take lots of notes and write what I couldn't sign. There was a LOT I couldn't sign... he is in Grade 10 Chemistry, and Calculus. He was VERY patient.

I am mad. It is just WRONG.
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That's a dirty business. :/ Sue against the company with your own lawyer.
 
Glenn said:
Agreed. Mainstreaming can mean there will be people making decisions about things they know nothing about.
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yeah, kinda like how my hearing church thinks if I just sit next a speaker or use a headphone, I can hear the pastor better because they think louder is better. This is when I asked them about neckloop ..if louder is better, then I could listen to musics through headphones without my hearing aids if I turn the volume in full blast. But it doesn't work. The musics is still muffled and the blast or that air you feel hurt my ears. I don't know why hearing aids work and while headphones don't. And sitting next to a speaker or use a headphone is not going to help the pastor sound more clearer.
 
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Just wanted to thank everyone again for your input...I haven't heard anything more about what is going to happen next, but I have put my concerns in writing and out to those who I believe can make the change.

Hopefully things will change...and soon!
 
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