We are excited to share the latest spotlight of a dedicated professional who works with a learner with deafblindness in North Carolina. Presenting… Ada Chapman! Ada is a very dedicated interpreter who is great at what she does! In addition to her work at school, she is also currently working towards National Intervener Certification. We are excited to share our spotlight interview with Ada!
1. Tell us about your position.
I work in Union County Public Schools as a full-time interpreter for ASL and English. I met my client when I was an intern. We often ran into each other at events in the Deaf community before I started working with him full time. He’s now in his first year of middle school.
2. How did you get started working with a student with deaf-blindness?
I have a very supportive team at the school that I work closely with day-to-day. This includes his teacher, assistant teachers, nurse, and of course him and I. In the morning we do a “check-in” to set the pace for the day. The nurse does a quick assessment and she relays any notes from home. The teacher tells us what is planned for the day and we ask how he is feeling. After everyone shares, I offer some motivation or helpful tips. Maybe it’s extra important that day for us to remember to take it easy and give extra wait time. Maybe it’s a high-energy day and we all need to remember to ask before entering each other’s personal space. I am constantly assessing and prioritizing goals so I can make the right judgment call for accommodating whatever is happening in the classroom.
3. Tell us about your student with deaf-blindness.
He’s a popular guy with lots of nicknames (most recently deemed as “fly-guy” because of his too-cool-for-school attitude and because sometimes he can’t sit still and it looks like he’s flying away). He loves meeting people and prefers unconventional small talk. He would rather skip over the “how are you” part and instead often initiates conversation with the chicken dance. It always gets a positive response so I support it and save the routine conversations for after the dance break. He likes music class, fingerspelling and loves a good opportunity to show off his skills.
4. Describe your relationship with your student with deaf-blindness.
We’re something like the best of friends. We’re always side-by-side, you can catch us playing and laughing seemingly in our own world or working hand-under-hand typing or writing together. When one of us has a bad day, we experience it together. When he succeeds, I feel accomplished too. I make a point to be open about my feelings because I have to be honest with him, we go through a lot together. We’re close because we have common interests but mostly because it comes with the job.
5. What has been your greatest reward working with your student?
People find it interesting that I’m not just here for the deaf-blind student, I am helping the hearing-sighted individuals connect with someone they otherwise wouldn’t fully be able to without the help of an interpreter and intervener. I like the look on people’s faces when they see us joking and playing. It’s like they just saw a magic trick like people don’t expect so much then surprise, he laughs! The best part of my job is when I can sense a shift in someone’s perspective. At first, they might look at my client and assume all the things he can’t do, and a minute later realize that it’s possible they are the ones missing out on something, not the other way around. The most rewarding part of my job is breaking down those barriers and sparking curiosity in someone.
Thanks, Ada for all you do for learners with deafblindness! We appreciate your hard work and dedication!
If you are interested in becoming an Intervener, please contact us! The ECU Teacher Support Program provides online training based on the Open Hands, Open Access Modules created by the National Center on Deaf-Blindness. We also provide mentoring as participants work to complete the portfolio process towards obtaining National Intervener Certification.
~Julie Brickhouse brickhousej17@ecu.edu
Congratulations, Ada!!
Ada compliments her student perfectly! She goes above and beyond to make sure that he is accepted and understood throughout his day.
Ada is truly a blessing to Ryan and our class. She helps us all connect with him and understand his full potential. Each week she helps Ryan teach our class the signs to our weekly vocabulary words. The students love learning from, and interacting with him. We are so appreciative of Ada and all she does for our Fly-Guy.