Does Your Child Use An Interpreter?

By Brenda Nowicki

Is your child in a mainstream setting and using an interpreter as his/her primary communication source? If so, have you ever been told the interpreter is not a participant in IEP meetings and that the "administrator," in whatever supervisory department, can respond to any questions or concerns you have about interpreting services for your child? Who is monitoring the environment to ensure equal communication access? Who is monitoring your child's grades, participation or behavior? Does your child treat the interpreter as a confidante, or a buddy? Does your child understand the role of the interpreter? Is he or she able to recognize when the interpreter is acting as a tutor? The list of questions is endless..

The answers to these questions, however, may be an important indicator of how well your child will do in his or her mainstream placement. Parents have discussed these very questions within the Hands & Voices organization. The Colorado Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (CRID) has identified many of the same concerns, but from a slightly different perspective. So we've put our heads, and hands, together and formed "The New Alliance."

The New Alliance's main goal is to educate parents, interpreters and students who utilize interpreting services about how to create a mainstream environment that will foster student success. One of our initial goals is to create a curriculum for students to learn roles and responsibilities of an interpreter. Our hope is that a child completing the curriculum will be able to identify and express their needs. The committee is also discussing how to make systemic changes that will ultimately result in creating a model that supports that meets the needs of students, interpreters, parents and administrators.

If you are interested in hearing more, Janet DesGeorges will be presenting at the CRID conference April 15th - 17th, 2005 in Colorado Springs. This conference draws nearly 200 interpreters from around the state and is an excellent forum to introduce this new concept. Janet will also be presenting at the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) National Conference July 10th - 15th in San Antonio, Texas. Her proposal is one of 34 others that were selected from hundreds submitted from around the country. We believe this project has the potential to have national significance; it seems that RID would agree! WAY TO GO JANET!

It was a mere three months ago that a team of five met to get to know each other and our respective organizations a little bit better. Now there are nine of us on the field: Ali Boyle, Colorado Educational Interpreter Standards Coordinator, Amy Seiberlich, CRID President, Barbara-Jean Slopey, CRID Mentoring Committee Co-Chair, Brenda Nowicki, CRID / Hands & Voices liaison, Brenda Schick, University of Colorado - Boulder, Cheryl Johnson, Colorado Department of Education, Janet DesGeorges, President Colorado Hands & Voices, Karen Humphrey, Douglas County School District, Leeanne Seaver, President, National Hands & Voices and Nakita Kawal, Boulder County School District. We are looking to round out the committee by recruiting a Deaf educator and possibly a Special Education Director.

The productivity of this team is phenomenal and inspiring. Be on the look out..by this time next year we may be ready for a stadium.