hearing loss accommodation in the workplace - part
two
Part One
friday - meetings in school. and i had another interpreting team.
made phone calls, talked to staff, heard my meetings. unbelievable.
my signing still has a lot of room for improvement. but the more u
use interpreters the more u learn. and boy, am i ever learning! i have 2
terps for tuesday too!!
i have a new boss in my supt's office. yes, i answer to my principal.
and he supports me 100 + 10%! but we all answer to the supts office. and
my boss there left and i have a new one.
i know this new woman and she knows me by reputation. fine. but i'm
worried. before my old boss left, she arranged cart for meetings that
were scheduled for this past week - thurs and friday. now i will
demonstrate what a fool I can be. ( i was thinking of another expletive,
so just change fool to whatever u can think of!)
the meeting on friday was cancelled. and no one told me. and we have
CART arranged. a lot of money in the toilet. i'm angry to say the least.
i mean, well, my new boss should have thought of me, right? after all,
what else does she have to think of? sheesh - i'm so far off base i
amazed myself with my stupidity.
unbeknowst to me, my new boss did think of me. can u believe that!
she's brand new in a big job and she called the office of interpreting
services, before she spoke with me, to arrange to have an interpreter
there for me. with all she has to do! and i was angry! guess my emotions
are just running amok; i don't think very clearly when it comes to not
hearing. i still need more time, but WOW! these people are making it
easy for me. as easy as it could possibly be.
i already told you, i had CART at that meeting. i had cancelled the
terp, cancelled CART for friday, and all was right with the world. i'm
still in heaven, remember???
in the meantime, i had a meeting with our 504 coordinator. put the
ADA on the side for a moment. few people are really aware of section
504. it's a very powerful law - it provides that disabled people cannot
be discriminated against, in my case, in the place of employment, if
otherwise able and qualified to do the job. in other words, like the ada,
if i need accommodations to do my job, i have to get them. and i believe
that section 504 also has to do with agencies that receive federal
funding. well, of course the board of ed receives federal funding, so
viola! 504 applies to me.
the 504 coordinator asked me what i need? what do i want? i went for
the whole shootin' match - i need tty's in my school; CART for big
meetings; a new laptop, (my old one doesn't stay charged through an
entire school period so i can't really depend on it for observations);
and, yes, a full time interpreter. he said, simply, ok. OK???? let's see
what happens. he has to arrange funding from the board. he's working on
that. i gave him a letter from my audie - i will either need to see the
board's physician, which i have no problem with as long as he's an ent
or qualified in otology - after all, this is an ear issue, right? or
will need more documentation from my own audie
then, my new boss, talks to me via relay. that's when she told me
about making sure i hear everything i have to at these meetings and that
i am entitled to accommodations and she will search to california to get
me a terp if she has to. i cried. hey, who wouldn't? i sat at the tty
speechless, crying. can this really be??
she wants to see me this tuesday to discuss my needs and to,
"make sure you get them, and that they are in place quickly so you
can do the good job you're known for doing." she told me that i am
entitled to a full-time terp, (ENTITLED???!!!); and that until one is
assigned, i should put in daily requests for them.
"ok," I said, "but the director of interpreter
services will be angry with me." can i be dumb or what?
so my boss said that she will call the director of the director, and
that they will be prepared for my requests. and she said that she had
worked there and knows how they work. if i make these requests, they
will simply assign someone to me as often as they can. i should do this
for every day for the next month until i have someone full time. and if
no one is assigned to me for oct, i should do the same thing.
i shut up.
i faxed over 18 interpreting requests friday morning.
i'm in heaven.
so, in just one short week i have the support of my principal and my
new boss. support that is unimaginable. i wish this on everyone. i have
so far been accommodated more than i ever imagined possible. yet, until
things are in place, i will worry and have doubts - that's just me. but
i'm not that stupid - i have great support and help. it's an
indescribable feeling.
my friend told me i must have angels. angels? at the board of ed?
never heard of that before? but hey, you never know. took me a while to
think that how can i have angels? i'm becoming deafer every day. would
angels do that? know what? they would. <smile>
just one more tidbit - a biggie - i have been accepted to a doctoral
program. i am officially a doctoral student! registered the other day.
i'll be studying school leadership and policy making. and for my
dissertation they will let me study my deaf education program. i want to
focus on literacy in deaf ed. we'll see though, i have time to decide.
and, you know what? they have arranged CART
for all my classes!!!!
i'm busting!! <smile> <very big smile!> <very very big
smile!!>
