Terrell I. Murphy
Commissioner
DARS/OFFICE FOR DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING SERVICES ACTIVITIES PROVIDE
BENEFITS FOR DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING CHILDREN AND COURT INTERPRETERS
Not even Hurricane Eduardo could spoil the fun and learning
experience for 110 children who are deaf or hard of hearing who were
enjoying Camp Sign, a week-long camping experience, August 3-9. This
camp at Conroe is owned and operated by the San Jacinto Girl Scouts
Council. DARS/Office for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services has
sponsored Camp Sign, which serves children ages 8 to 18, each year for
more than 30 years. Conroe was in the path of the storm but was not
considered a high risk area, so all the children were kept in a highly
secure building on the camp grounds for a day, busying themselves with
camp activities while the storm passed.
“The children were quite unaware of the storm—just a rainy
day,” said Ann Horn, DARS/DHHS staff coordinator for Camp Sign,
which has a staff of 56, all fluent signers, in addition to 25 staff
employed by the Council.
Charlene “Sport” Carl, a retired educator of the deaf, is the
camp’s activities director, a position she has held for 24 years as
a volunteer. The camp is another DARS/DHHS activity that is made
possible by partners who contribute in a variety of ways to make the
camp possible for the children. Among partners, in addition to the San
Jacinto Girl Scouts Council, are the Texas Education Agency, Be an
Angel Fund, and the Janus Corporation of Houston.
Still another DARS/DHHS activity, COURT INTERPRETER TRAINING, with 68
participants from Texas and 13 other states, got underway on August 11
at Austin Community College in Austin and will continue for five days
through August 15. The DARS/DHHS/BEI interpreter certification program
certifies court interpreters who, in order to become court certified,
must meet strict court interpreter training and mentoring requirements
in addition to the requirement of having advanced BEI or RID
certifications. Texas law requires that courts must provide
interpreters for deaf persons who need that service for effective
communication in the courts, and the court interpreters must be court
certified.
Randi Turner, DARS/DHHS training coordinator, and Buddy Bauer, a
certified court interpreter and community partner, put together a
training team. The team was led by Carla Mathers, a Texas native and
Washington, DC attorney who is a former interpreter and retains her
certification. The team also includes Helen Cohen-Gilbert, a certified
court interpreter from McKinney, and Lucy Wood, an attorney with
Advocacy, Inc. in Austin. In addition to attorneys and court
interpreters, the training team includes a judge, a prosecutor, a
medical examiner, and law enforcement officers representing Travis
County.
The training targets two groups: interpreters who are court certified
and seeking to improve their skills and knowledge, and those
interpreters who are not court certified but are preparing for that
certification. Each group is provided with training topics that are
designed to meet their needs. A highlight of the training for the
group that is preparing for certification is a “hands on” trip to
the Travis County courthouse for sessions with a judge, police and
sheriff’s investigators, a medical examiner, and a prosecutor.
DARS/DHHS appreciates the assistance provided by several partners,
including Austin Community College, Advocacy, Inc., Hands-On Video
Relay Services, Sorenson Communications, and Travis County government.
Submitted by
David Myers
Email: [email protected]
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