Receiving Thanks

by Sandra Tankoos

I think the advantages of CART and captioning services are best described by those who require the services. Consequently, I am quoting from an unsolicited letter that we received from one of our clients.

"With this letter, I would like to thank you for the magnificent help you extended to me at the recent American Society of Clinical Pathology seminar in New York by providing me with an expert captioner (stenographer).

"Ms. Linda Fisher is truly an outstanding stenographer without whom I would have obtained very little benefit from the speakers. She is very well versed in medical terminology, and I had no difficulty whatsoever with her transcription. Her kindness and thoroughness are sincerely appreciated."

The letter appears in our Web site www.tankoos.com. The gentleman who wrote the letter is a doctor who had never before been able to follow along with what was happening at the seminars that he is required to take. He was, as you can see, very appreciative.

We have also had the opportunity of providing realtime services for deaf students at hearings, since we have the impartial hearing contract in New York City and many parts of Long Island. Previous to our being asked to provide CART services, the Board of Education had attempted to work with sign language interpreters. This presented many problems because there were often heated disagreements at the hearings regarding the translation of what was being said. The student, who was having a problem, would have to come back many times until these issues could be resolved. Now that we have a court reporter writing exactly what is being said, there is no controversy over the translation. People present at the hearings can concentrate on the matter at hand, which is getting these students the help that they need.

Please allow us to spread the opportunity to as many deaf and hearing-impaired students as possible.