by George Vaughn
I read a memo from Gayl Hardeman, the founder of CARTWheel, about the Miami-Dade Community College's shortsighted decision that the deaf/hard-of-hearing students do not need CART and will get note takers instead. How in the world do they assume that the note-taking method is fail-proof, perfectly written, word for word, according to the lecture by the professors? First of all, Dade county cried "foul" when they felt cheated out of their voting rights and every dimple, pregnant and hanging chad be counted. Not once, not twice, but three times they requested a recount! Miami-Dade Community College has cheated deaf/hard-of-hearing people out of their rights to a better education. We, the deaf/hard-of-hearing people, want every lectured word to be printed as well.
Hey, Miami-Dade Community College, read my lines: I AM THE EXPERT in experience with the note-takers in college, and they are not reliable! Sloppy writing, dates, misspelling, etc., are the trademark of human errors.
Would it benefit deaf/hard-of-hearing peoples' education to have a laptop and a steno interpreter in the classroom. YES! There are numerous benefits:
The investment in using a laptop and a steno interpreter in the classroom would improve their grade point average. They would feel more confident to participate in class and would not miss any important topics. Their study hours would be reduced, with less frequent visits to professors' offices. They would be able to improve their grammar and could learn new vocabulary words as discussed in class. They would be able to read word for word from the realtime monitor and glance at the professors writing on the board without missing anything. After the class, the printed copies or transcripts would be available to them to take home for further study. These lecture transcripts would be the most vital part of the process for them because it is similar to tape recordings hearing students used to make for later review. (For me, tape recording is a time-consuming process and inconvenient because of having to find someone who is willing to listen to the tape and write everything down.)
If you have had an experience with captioning or CART that you would like to share, please e-mail it to Peter Wacht, pwacht@ncrahq.org, or mail it to his attention at NCRA, 8224 Old Courthouse Road, Vienna, VA 22312.