Below is an anonymous article by a notetaker who works with deaf students in higher education.
Sometimes, stuck between a tutor and interpreters who really don’t seem to care, I have to ask myself if I am the only person who cares about a deaf student’s education.
Sometimes the students don’t seem to care themselves. But does that mean I shouldn’t care? It’s a tricky one. They are adults and should be treated as such, so one point of view might be that I should respect their decision not to care about themselves, their education or their future.
“They’re students,” is a refrain I often hear from other support workers, “not adults. All students behave like this at this age” – turn up late, or not at all, don’t do the work, not interested.
Do they? I don’t know. Sure, you’ll always get students who mess around and waste their tuition, but among them are also those who quietly put their heads down and get on with it. And there are many who manage to enjoy the student lifestyle, come in late, chat a lot and still get really good grades at the end of it.
But I can’t help noticing that, on the whole, Deaf students tend to be more disengaged than their peers. They are more likely to be playing on the internet or on their phones while the tutor is speaking (and unlike their hearing peers, they can’t listen at the same time). They’re more likely to come in late, to chat instead of working, and to end up (unsurprisingly) getting low grades.
Of course, these are the observations of one person, and even within that there are exceptions. But it’s also completely understandable to me why many Deaf students do this.
Most higher education courses are just not designed around Deaf students’ needs. They tend to involve a lot of peer interaction and peer learning. So when the tutor says, “Work independently”, they really mean “work together, have a laugh and share ideas.” Only the Deaf student works on their own. It helps if there is another Deaf student in the class, but they are still massively isolated.
Besides that, I’ve noticed that hearing tutors (with exceptions) tend to spend on average a lot more 1:1 time with hearing students than with Deaf students. Maybe they feel uncomfortable. But rather than engaging in discussion, as they do with hearing students, encouraging them to push their ideas as far as they can, they simply make sure the Deaf student has understood the assignment. When this is the only teaching input that occurs in a class, that means the Deaf students are missing out on a lot.
The situation can’t really be blamed on interpreters either. BSL/English interpreters are trained to do a formal, restricted role – to interpret what the tutor says, not to facilitate peer interaction, I guess. One interpreter said to me, “Group work’s crap for Deaf students.” “Really?” I wondered. “Or are you just not doing your job properly?” Surely Deaf people don’t like to be alone.
According to Sign Health, up to 40% of Deaf people experience mental health problems, and I’ve heard higher figures quoted. That’s much higher than the average for hearing people. I’m willing to bet a large part of this is due to isolation.
As professionals, I believe that we all have a part to play: not just in ensuring that Deaf students get a good education, but also that they enjoy the student experience. My undergraduate years were the happiest of my life, but when I observe Deaf students, I don’t see them enjoying the same experience.
At the university I work at, there is a small number of Deaf students, so they do socialise together a little outside of classes, but in classes, they are mainly separated (as one would expect), as they’re doing different degree programmes. As to whether they participate in extracurricular activities, I doubt it. Of course, no-one has to participate in extracurricular activities, and many choose not to. But they should at least have the choice.
Not only are Deaf students getting an incomplete education, they’re also missing out on an important part of social and emotional development. And I hasten to add, this is at one of the better (more accessible) institutions I’ve worked in. And don’t forget, in this world of ‘pay for your education’, Deaf students pay exactly the same for a university degree as everyone else (and it doesn’t come cheap).
Some people say I take my job, and life in general, too seriously. But I don’t think so. Other than their health, what could be more important to someone’s life chances than their education?
If Deaf students are (disproportionately) disengaged, there must be a reason for this. It’s our job to do something about it.
Some possible suggestions I’ve thought of (purely from my own head):
- Deaf awareness training should be provided for ALL students and staff.
- Basic BSL should be provided for all students and staff, and higher levels for those who want it.
- Interpreters should be made available for all extracurricular and student union activities.
- There should be deaf-focussed student societies and social activities.
- Regular workshops for students and staff in different courses and subject areas to get together and talk about what is and isn’t working.
- Reading groups and film groups for Deaf students.
- Flexibility and an openness to change
- Awareness that we all have a part to play (hearing and deaf, students and staff, teaching and support staff).
Any other ideas?
Please share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below.
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Matt Brown
April 29, 2014
Very interesting and provocative. Might have had more impact with a name attached, but still.
Just to pick up briefly on one thing: us terps are very much trained to facilitate peer interaction. There is not necessarily anything “formal” or “restricted” about it. In those cases where an individual interpreter seems “cold” or overly concerned with boundaries, it is probably because of their own interpretation of “role” and I hope not because of their training. “Role” is a massive and interesting subject – way too complex to get into here.
donaldo of the wasatch
April 30, 2014
So what Matt is saying is what I have always said – Terps have to be almost psychic and definitely into mentoring and psychology mingle with social work intervention. To suggest that they are strict interpreters is absolutely not true. These terps should get psychologists wages and compensated by insurance companies. The other issue goes to what I also say that the traditional educational system, particularly for the Deaf, fails, fails and fails. What the Deaf are encountering is what in disability jargon is called “Learned Helplessness.” Very familiar with it and observe it frequently. Basically the family, society, educational systems and even government agencies teach and reinforce this syndrome – learned helplessness! For the Deaf it is really tragic. I worked with university educational and job placement executives and guess who their hardest candidates are to place in great jobs? The DEAF! And most of the problem is the deaf themselves and universally through a cross section of these folks – it is the attitudes of the DEAF! So Matt, thanks to you and this author for the courage to write and post this. Until the Deaf clean up there own acts and house – the problem will persist, and persist. Wanna get mad at me???? I am pre lingual deaf! So I have eaten the same “dog food” they have, but refuse to be part of the Deaf pity parties. And yes the nearly 50% mental health issue is very real! I know that demon personally. Psychologists are absolutely clueless about the main issue – trauma. Anxiety and Depression follow that traumatic issues they face, largely because no one ever teaches them about the traumatic aspects of deafness and how to resolves the constant barrage of issues they face. I am stone cold deaf and my Hearing Aids and Cochlear Implants gave and now give me extraordinary hearing given what I have and never had much of.
Matt Brown
April 30, 2014
Donaldo – I did not say any of that. You will need to look elsewhere for validation of your beliefs.
Lana
April 29, 2014
When I entered the hearing world of education, I had to learn to forget that I am Deaf and to work / study same as hearing students. With interpreters available, I could do 1 to 1 with teachers and participate the hearing group etc. Maybe it is because I had more confident at 40 than these young Deaf students just out of school. I enjoyed the challenge of showing the hearing students that my work were sometimes better than them! I loved and enjoyed learning new things – more important I know NOW that not all hearing people are clever and good at English! It is just another new experience for these Deaf people and they dont realise how lucky they are lucky to have a notetaker doing the work for them plus the BSL interpreter.
Dawn Young
April 29, 2014
I agree completely with an addendum to the ideas 1. ALL teachers (primary to HE) MUST complete deaf awareness training. ALL teachers and T.A MUST have basic sign ability. If a deaf student is in attendance ( whether at primary or University) ALL members of staff who will engage with that child should have deaf awareness training. Also students should be educated in deaf awareness if they have a fellow student who is deaf. Perhaps if we start yung we will teach an entire generation to appreciate and celebrate differences
Melanie Thorley
April 29, 2014
As a qualified notetaker and a researcher in this area, the anonymous notetaker has made some salient and thought-provoking comments. With fifteen years experience and six years of doctoral study on the subject, the recommendations are similar to comments I have received, especially the importance of Deaf awareness for teaching staff and hearing students. Unfortunately, the proposed cuts to the Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) from September 2015 is going to ensure that Deaf learners, if they make it to university, will struggle more than they do now.
Elisabeth McDermott
April 29, 2014
I actually found that having a note-taker, even an electronic note-taker did NOT enable me to engage in real-time discussion with the classes I attended, so much so that I now prefer a lip-speaker. I now understand what is being said and can participate in group activities which is essential in my role as a physiotherapist as a lot of the training is practical, involves moving around and generally being hands-on. The lip-speaker (and I’m sure for those who use BSL interpreters) the terps are also able to move around with the client during such educational sessions. It beats reading the notes hours afterwards at the end of the day when (a) I’m so tired and (b) so disengaged, that actually nothing makes sense reading the notes. This is not to denounce what you do, as I have used note-takers for years in the past, but essentially, without my own active involvement, I don’t actually learn. So I agree with a lot of what you say, but I also drive my own learning – I have to be proactive, speak to the tutors beforehand, introduce myself and my lip-speaker (and explain their role) to the class, and even do some pre-course reading if I’m given any…a lot of your suggestions are great however…basic BSL is not going to go far for a teacher teaching deaf students, where is the money going to come from to pay for interpreters in a day and age when cuts are being made left, right and centre….the idea of activities and deaf clubs is great…but in my experience, young deaf people are moving more into the “mainstream” and going to their own events outside of college/school.
donaldo of the wasatch
April 30, 2014
If you want interaction – then you have to dump the third wheel! The ol’ social axiom of threes a crowd applies. The Deaf have to develop personal and interpersonal interaction skills and not fall into the trap of letting someone else clone themselves in a group situation for the Deaf person. Ever had a classes on conflict resolution? All hearing deprived individuals should have such experiences. BTW, I never have, just 12 years of college with only hearing students. It is basically impossible to rely in any situation of communication without focusing not he speaker! Does not matter if it is spoken of signed. When hearing people focus not he TERPS to understand the Deaf person that is just as useless ax the converse.
SL requires a lot of interpretations of the nuances and if the Deaf person is just looking at the Terp then about 60% of the background communication is totally lost! They might as well place a physically wall between the Deaf student and the hearing group. Might as well stay at home and have the Terp sent texts via phone and tablets. I use to drill teachers that talked to the black boards – turn around and speak to the students, not the black board! But that is what happens most of the time when the Deaf are interacting via a Terp.
They do not view the person communicating. In any communication environment to not look at someone who is communicating is RUDE. And yet, that is what is happening in the situations you are describing. And Terps have to bi-lingual. What does the Deaf client have to offer to a Terp besides payments of salaries? So sure, they will talk to the hearing person. It is a far more robust world of communication cues. SL cannot and does not replace the depth and width of a spoken and written alpha/numeric language.
SL is a short cut for those that rely on it and they are shortchanged in the 99% communication environment of this world. I am not anti SL, it is just way oversold and overused. I am pre lingual deaf too! So I know the cones of silence and world of audio cues.
keth
April 30, 2014
As a current final year undergraduate, and a deaf person to boot, I’d like to weigh in on this. Firstly – the notetaker. I think its important (and they don’t specify) whether they’re notetakers for the deaf (i.e. trained to take notes for DEAF people) or general notetakers, who will take notes for anyone at uni who needs it, blind people, dyslexics, etc. In my experience there is a substantial difference between the two.
Secondly: again, from personal experience, I would disagree that ‘terps ‘don’t really seem to care’. Of the 4 regular interpreters that I have worked with, i would not say that about a single one of them. In my second year we all had to give a group presentation in front of each other. Another group were mumbling so much, and so quietly that neither of the interpreters (I had two, given the length of the session) could make out what was being said. After the third time that the ‘terps interrupted to ask them to repeat what they had said, the assessors stopped the session, asked my interpreters to stop interrupting. When they protested, pointed out that it meant that I did not have fair access, the assessor said “she’ll have to make do with the handout”. despite both of us being extremely livid at the blatant prejudice we left it till the end of the session, when we confronted that assessor who didn’t seem to see the issue. He just kept saying “your presentation mark won’t be negatively affected by this”, as if that was the only thing that mattered! In the end the head of the school got wind of it, the other assessor was sent to take a report to make sure that such a thing never happened again and changes have been made accordingly, which I’m happy with. But the interpreter in question could quite legitimately have left at the end of the session, in fact, they both could, but they both stayed to give me support. There are countless other examples of support that my ‘terps have given me throughout the last three years. ‘uncaring’? not in my book.
My notetakers, on the other hand, vary hugely. I’ve had notetakers that were notetakers for the deaf, produced really really good notes (to the point that the teacher asked for copies at the end of year to help him with his own presentation style) and gave a great deal of support to me (especially in the course I took before I went to university). I’ve also had notetakers that were general notetakers, who, from a one hour lecture, produced notes that were one page long, and spent the vast amount of the lecture surfing their email and checking ebay (I complained about that one!). I’ve also had general notetakers who, from a one hour lecture, produced 6 pages of densely written notes – which were wonderful when it came to revision. Again, some gave a great deal of support, became good friends. Others just sat at the back of the class, had nothing to do with me outside of the necessary interaction, and left me to it. There has been a much greater variation of service from notetakers than there has been from my ‘terps, I do know that.
I would strongly agree with what has been said about the deaf experience at university. I’m not sure that that is the university’s fault, however. How is it the university’s fault that social activities are not set up to accommodate the deaf? the world *IS* hearing, deaf people (of whatever kind) have to fight to have access, and the sooner a deaf person gets to grips with that concept, the better. My issue is with bodies like DSA, which won’t fund ‘terps for anything other than the specific lessons that the degree calls for. There have been talks and opportunities to gain experience in the field that I am studying for, volunteering, but getting financial support for any kind of communication work is so difficult. I was very very lucky that the university itself stumped up when it came to volunteering on the one project last summer, but I cannot, and do not, expect the university to do it for everything on the off chance I wanted to take part in a game of hockey or attend the university’s knitting club! As it happens, I’m a mature student so the idea of me participating in a game of hockey is just laughable and I don’t have time – or the inclination – to get involved with other social clubs. I have my own, prior-existing social life which I’m quite happy with. but that’s not really the point. deaf people have to find their own way, their own ways of managing. And to a certain extent, self-management is a large part of that. I’ve always taken responsibility for my own learning. If I don’t understand something that is said in a lecture, I check the books before I ask the lecturer or my tutor. Donaldo commented that many of the problems exist with deaf people themselves, some of whom seem to expect everything to be just given to them. I’d agree. I’ve never expected that, I’ve worked for everything I’ve got – and you know what? It works, because – unless things go very very wrong in the next month – I’m actually due to graduate with a first.
And a large part of that is due to the support i get from both my terps, and my notetakers. I don’t think you can pay them a better compliment than that.
chris b
April 30, 2014
back in the 80s i would occasionally catch a debate on SEE HEAR where the deaf people there agreed that the answer to deaf problems laid in better communication. At the time i was having to sit for hours on end in school watching a teachers lips move without any sound coming out. Apart from the obvious boredom i felt, there was an increasing feeling of anxiety and despair about my future.
My apologies to those who STILL struggle but i am getting a real benefit from 2 NHS hearing aids and my anxiety levels have gone down a lot.Its a shame that this technology wasn’t availlable in my youth and i clearly remember other deaf people i met within the psychiatric environment who talked of their despair and depression. Onward towards hearing aids being as innocuous as glasses i feel and better mental health for those who have difficulties coping with their disability
Natalya D
April 30, 2014
I had manual notetaking for I think 4 of the 5 years I was at university and if I am honest it wasn’t adequate enough for my needs but non sign language realtime support didn’t really exist in the UK at that time. In my experience even OCN qualified notetakers varied at how they managed notes for my semi-technical subject. I also feel my notetakers were treated poorly in employment terms with low pay, being unpaid for late cancellations and otherwise.
I think there is some misunderstanding in the comments here about the main intent of manual notetaking. It isn’t primarily for real-time access, it is for post-lecture followup and revision of notes cos deaf and hard of hearing people cannot look away from the speaker to make notes cos we usually need to lipread and concentrate a lot.
For real-time access a deaf person really needs sign language interpretation, lipspeaking, STTR or rare in the UK cued speech transliteration (I can’t think of anything else which does this but if I have missed it, apologies!).
Electronic notetaking can sort of work for “real-time” supplementation for some deaf students. Manual notetaking shouldn’t really be used for the student to follow the lecture in real-time but I know I had some sessions where I did keep having to look over my notetaker’s shoulder as they wrote cos I had no idea what was being said.
I should have had real-time communication support at university as well as Manual Notetaking because the effort of following speakers for several hours a week exhausted me. I have poor auditory memory and it didn’t make the best use of my learning capacity. Even easy to follow lectures were exhausting leaving me unable to function well for the rest of the time cos I was too brain-dead. If a lecturer was hard to hear, or as is common at university level, had a foreign accent I often struggled. Deaf awareness helped a great deal but not enough to have made communication-support not necessary for me.
However for many hard of hearing people, deaf-awareness would make enough of a difference that they might not need real-time communication support.
My notetaker wasn’t supposed to take notes if I wasn’t there, but if I was sick they only got paid for the first session of the day. Not exactly fair or ethical employment conditions, especially as I did get ill more than most people for other-disability reasons. I also had one lecturer who would not do deaf awareness like facing the class or provide me with any extra support (notes in advance, extra reading, summary information) and insisted on not taking mid-2 hour session break either. His classes did my head in, so I simply stopped attending and made an agreement with my notetaker that if I was ill, or it was Dr Obstructive’s classes that she could take notes for me and I would sign off on them.
Getting my notes in absentia was against the rules but the way my notetaker and I saw it “everyone got what they wanted”. I didn’t burn out trying to hear incomprehensible lecture and I got notes to spend time filling the gaps in later (whether sick or not) and she got paid for a job well done.
If I had been forced to attend the lectures I would probably have resorted to a “turn the hearing aid off” tactic and done some of my other work at that time instead. It might have looked like I didn’t care but I think was usually despair and frustration on top of exhaustion.
There are several research papers including the publicly available Hyde, M. et al (2009) The experiences of deaf and hard of hearing students at a Queensland university 1985-2005. Higher Education Research & Development (28), 1. [Online] Available at:
Hyde et al’s research shows that EVEN with full and comprehensive communication support deaf and hard of hearing students do not get full access to the spoken content and are at a substantial disadvantage still. They talk about academics needing to do more for deaf students, guide us more, do deaf awareness etc.
It is worth noting that many or most academics work extremely long hours. Full-time lecturers ostensibly on 35-37 hour a week contracts probably work in excess of 60-70 hours a week and part-time lecturers (often women with children etc) will be working double their paid hours to fit in teaching, research, other non-teaching student responsibilities etc…
Deaf and indeed disability awareness is just Yet Another Thing Academics Are Asked To Do and because of lack of education disabled and deaf people are seen as “extras” “other” not part of the main or to be included at course design stages.
There is also the problematic culture in many academic institutions of “you can’t tell academics what to do” and in some areas an expectation that a high research output or “genius” like status absolves individual academics of any other responsibilities to students.
But that doesn’t make lack of deaf awareness OK – especially given the fees we are now paying and how much harder deaf students have to work to keep up even with good support.
Anon
April 30, 2014
Very interesting read and throws up important issues. Whether or not they are dealt with and seen by others the same way is yet to be acknowledged. (Communication Support Worker)
Nathan
April 30, 2014
As someone born profoundly deaf an having been through the education system, I found the article and comments very interesting.
During my university years, I had a manual notetaker. In hindsight, I should really have had STTR. As a manual notetaker cannot physically write down ad verbatim, I had to work really *really* hard at university to figure everything out, relying on my notetaker notes as we go along, do lots and *lots* of reading etc – as a result, I actually graduated with first class honours – that was purely down to sheer bloody hard work that I had to do.
The greatest disappointment was getting a job, despite a having glittery qualifications which is enough to make most hearing people green with envy! All deaf people are *severely* discriminated when trying to get job.
I realised now that it is not what you know – it is who you know!
There were times, when I have wondered, would my financial and job/career prospects been greater if I went for blue collar jobs? Did my teacher-of-deaf in high school advised me wrongly when she encouraged me to aim high? Should teachers-of-deaf really be encouraging deaf people like me, with poor oral skills, to do more vocational work because of the reality that there is severe discrimination out there, at least, in white collar jobs?
Being deaf, we are very much at disadvantage when competing for jobs -and that is a tragedy.
LittleMissWhispers
May 2, 2014
This is a touching post, and very heart-breaking. I was born moderately deaf but think of myself as a normal hearing person – with a BAHA. At Uni, I had the option for a note-taker, but I politely declined. I’m stubborn and wanted to do the work myself. I knew if I had the note-taker, I wouldn’t concentrate and switch off. Yes, there were many times when I had to look over someone else’s shoulder to see what was being said, and studying science with lots of long funny words, made it all the more of a challenge. I personally like a challenge and will strive to meet it at any cost. The loop systems were only available in the large lecture theatres and most of the time, did not work. I should’ve pushed more for them. Most of my teaching in 2nd/3rd years was in smaller classrooms, so I was lucky and had more 1-1 time.
Not all Universities are bad, in a laboratory situation (very noisy places with fan extractors), I made myself known and said that I couldn’t hear unless my tutors were nearby. My final year project tutor was very accommodating, and knew to always look at me and be close by. I guess I learnt the hard way that I had to be pro-active to get the support I needed. I hope this article doesn’t put anyone off going to university, every person and situation is different. My only advice is to make sure support is in place before you go there!
Tim Cole
May 3, 2014
I’ve no time for a long reply now but will expand later. My partner ,Wendy, is a DIW (Deaf inclusion worker) who is full time with a profoundly deaf ten year old and has been from reception class. She hopes to take this through to higher education, provided she is employed by the school/uni/authority with continuity. She cues at level 2 and signs at level 6 providing a bilingual education. Skype is used for homework questions sometimes and I would say she has made herself fully accessible which shows great care let alone commitment to her work. Educating authorities and governing bodies never mind teachers and peers is a constant struggle which should, in 2014, be a different experience. Maybe one day we’ll all get taught to sign at a basic level to include deaf people.
A footnote to those worried about Deaf BSL interpreters and their jobs: the hearing need to be included NOT excluded! It does not help us to understand the culture or the language!
Tim
Notetaker (and original author of the piece)
May 12, 2014
Hi Keth and all,
I was really interested to read all your responses, and (pleasantly) surprised that my article got so much response. I wanted to address some of them so apologies that this gets rather long!
To answer Keth’s question, I am a trained electronic notetaker to work with deaf learners, and also with disabled learners. I have also completed qualifications in Communication with Deaf People (Level 2), BSL (Level 1 – working on Level 2!) and Theatre Captioning.
I also have also studied at university to MA level, which I think is quite important to be able to provide effective notes at university level (some language professionals I know have not studied to university level even though they are working in a university).
In the situation I was referring to in the article, I am providing what is known as ‘summary’ notes, for the students to refer to later (the interpreters provide real-time communication).
However, I have done ‘live’ (real-time) electronic notetaking in the past, and occasionally do still on freelance jobs, and I was interested to read about deaf people’s experience of this. It sounds as though it is not that adequate! But I suppose if you do not sign or lip-read well (or do not have access to a lipspeaker?) it may still be the best option. I provide ‘live’ notes regularly for a deaf professional in work-place meetings, who says she finds it very useful. I don’t come across lip-speakers being used very often – perhaps they should be!
I was really shocked to read one person’s comment that notetakers do students’ work for them – we don’t do that! We provide a clear, accurate summary of a lecture or practical session, in accessible language. It is up to the student how or whether they use the notes.
At the moment, I work freelance and mostly in university, but I have also worked in-house for an FE college and at other universities, as both a manual and electronic notetaker, so I do have a lot of experience.
The language support tutor (who supports a Deaf student for a couple of hours a week outside of class, mostly with written assignments) is just as vital as the notetaker so I’m surprised nobody has mentioned them. I’m aware that not all universities use language support tutors.
I appreciate that my comment that ‘interpreters don’t seem to care’ was a bit of a sweeping statement, and perhaps was unnecessarily provocative! I think many of them do care. And I’m pleased that interpreters are trained to facilitate peer interaction. I wonder why then it is often not happening? Perhaps there is just not enough checking up on interpreters… in my experience (which is extensive) they vary hugely, and so do notetakers. However, notetakers often do not have the level of specialist education and training that interpreters receive – as Keth points out – so that may be one reason for it.
I am really glad that Keth had a good experience with interpreters and that the institution cleaned up their act, although sorry obviously that you had to go through so much frustration in the first place.
I have also known interpreters that supported students through similar battles, so I’m sorry I did not mention that.
I am sorry that your experience with notetakers was less good. I have also seen or heard of notetakers like that (obviously I don’t work alongside them as we would not be in the same class!). I would presume that they were either agency workers on low-pay with little training, or students on low pay with little training. This of course does not excuse their lack of professionalism, and it is something which professional notetakers like myself, and the Association of Notetaking Professionals, are striving to address.
There is only one notetaking qualification available at the moment (with the Open College Network), and it is only available to take at 2 colleges in the whole country – The Manchester College and City Lit in London. The course runs about twice a year. It is not exactly accessible, particularly if you live in Scotland or somewhere else far afield, and unqualified notetakers are not well paid, so it would be difficult to save up for the travel and accommodation costs (not to mention the fees), unless you have another source of income.
Most notetakers are casually employed and are not even aware that qualifications exist. Even if they were, there is little motivation to get them, as institutions and agencies (such as Clear Links) don’t know much about the role. I am trying to raise awareness among other notetakers where I work, but Clear Links notetakers are instructed not to talk to each other! This seems crazy to me (excuse my un-PC language).
The OCN notetaking qualification is also not recognised by the National Register of Communication Professionals working with Deaf and Deafblind people (NRCPD). Why? If we want notetakers to behave more professionally – and I think we do – then we should treat them like professionals.
I completely agree with Keth and Melanie that funding is a problem. I’m aware that universities won’t fund interpreters for extracurricular activities, and the wider system is the problem – especially with the DSA cuts coming up in 2015.
At the same time, there is funding available at the university I work at to support students with setting up their own businesses, and numerous other things… so why not for accessibility?
Keth’s comments about self-management are interesting and similar to things I’ve heard before. I agree to an extent that we all need to learn to live in a world which is not geared towards us personally (whether because of deafness or another impairment). But I also believe that we should be pushing for a world that is fairer and more accessible for all.
I’m also really sad (although not surprised) to hear about Nathan’s experiences in employment, and this is something that I believe should be challenged at a wider society level.
I have heard comments from a disability manager (who is deaf herself, although very orally proficient) that good support workers are setting disabled students up for failure as it will ‘not be that easy in the real world’. But I disagree with her, as I think we have to give deaf and disabled students the best chance that we can, and that includes aiming high (perhaps Donaldo’s comments about learned helplessness are relevant here – if you get used to failing at university, are you likely to keep trying when it comes to employment? Especially when you have to work so much harder than everyone else because of discrimination).
I do genuinely feel sorry for your personal experiences though and can empathise with the way you feel (I am not deaf but I had similar feelings on completing HE with a first class degree in a social science! I felt that 3 years work experience might have been more helpful than a degree for my employment prospects… but in the long term I don’t regret my decision, and I would urge you to not give up).
Hopefully being educated alongside deaf and disabled people at university is one way in which to educate the general public about their abilities and eradicate prejudice. It is sad that, as Melanie points out, due to the funding cuts this is likely to become less common.
I certainly did not intend with this article to put anyone off from going to university – quite the reverse! I had a brilliant time, and many deaf students also have positive experiences. Things are better than they used to be – but they can still improve. Sadly (due to funding cuts) things are likely to go backwards, and this is something we need to fight.
I also agree that HE tutors vary enormously as to their level of awareness and supportiveness. Some of them are fantastic. But as one commenter mentioned, the issue of heavy workload is also very real, as is (for some tutors and institutions) the ‘genius’ factor. Cut-backs in education generally are also impacting on tutors’ workloads, so we need to work together on this.
Many thanks for all your comments and passion, I have enjoyed reading them, and I will be forwarding them to all of the notetakers I know, as I think we all can improve our practice.
Dizzyiu
May 14, 2014
An interesting read! I am compelled to respond.
I think it is a real disservice to fellow note takers to make a sweeping statement that they were “less good” because “they were either agency workers on low-pay with little training, or students on low pay with little training”. There are Agency workers out there that are trained, professional, offer real assistance and go out of their way to assist the students they work with. Like any job it is about the individual. The individual knowing the type of notes that they can do ~ deaf and/or disabled, and/or live notes. You could apply this broad brush approach to those who work in community care from agencies ~ they are on low wage, often get treated appallingly by their employers and often have to train themselves. Are they all less good than those in Nursing Homes?
Matt made a valid point about the interpretation of ‘role’. This could be extended to the role of note takers. There is training out there, but as the author points out it is not recognised by NRCPD and it is expensive, so where is the motivation to do the course? The motivation comes from the ‘self’. It is a personal motivation ~ ‘to care’ as the author puts it. To care indirectly for your student by being more knowledgeable and better trained. This in turns gives to rise to ‘best practice’ regardless of whom you work with or for.
As a note taker, I ask myself this question ‘who cares?’ regularly. In my training as a note taker I was constantly told to remember that the student has to become independent of the support workers they have whilst in education. This drew me to the conclusion that taking a holistic approach is best. If the student cares and asks for assistance with access, then I assist whenever possible. I take the approach that if they have asked for assistance they must care and if I can help I will without letting them become dependent upon me.
From what I have seen this year, in the lectures that I have been taking notes for, there has been a number of students that struggled with peer interaction and learning work in group situations. However having been a tutor myself I don’t think the responsibility lies solely on their shoulders. Is it is not the responsibility of the student to speak out? If it is not working for them. Should we not be encouraging the student to communicate what’s working and not working for them? Perhaps this is the ‘caring’ part of our role as a note taker.
The notes the author made regarding possible suggestions are interesting. Other suggestions may include training, interaction and awareness, which are all well and good but not very effective if they are not implemented.
Some universities have all the whistles and bells when it comes to disability inclusion. However in one university this year I have had to sit through ‘You Tube’ and other visual material with no subtitles/signers on screen with a number of Deaf students in the lecture hall whilst the interpreters tried to keep up with the poor sound coming from the audio. Is this fair access for either the Deaf student, the interpreters present or the note takers?
In an ideal world, the only way change is going to come is to teach early. Teaching all disabled students from an early age to express to their best ability their needs. This way, hopefully by the time they get to university, if the course is not working for them they can express their needs to the note taker, interpreter, university or DSA Officer. One of those working with the student picks up on this and the pressure results in change.
I have come across this a number of times where I will have a student tell me something is not working for them and can I assist them/be present when they talk with the tutor. Interestingly even my presence is enough sometimes to make change happen. It does not always work! I suppose it reinforces what Elizabeth says ‘Being Proactive’
yohanes
November 2, 2015
in the context of deaf and heard of hearing student electronic note taking should be set up other than manual note taking