Story of the Day 3/ 10/ 2011

These things just seek her out.
Stories.
Okay, they seek out Sarah. She just seems to be a magnet for things that make for good stories. Unfortunately, things that make for good stories are usually painful while they are happening, even if you know, at that moment, that they will make good stories.

But I am wrong, it is not that Sarah is a magnet for these things, it is just that there seem to be a lot of stupid people who seem to be in charge of the things around her. Or maybe that really is the same thing.

When I came home from work, yesterday evening, Sarah was already asleep, but she had left a message for me taped to my bathroom mirror. It said, “Do you know who is my interpreter for tomorrow?”

Unfortunately, I did.

When Sarah woke up, this morning, I told her, and she gave me a really horrified look and said, “No, not the vagina woman!”

Now, Sarah had this interpreter a few times and she let the Resource teacher know that this terp cannot sign well, has poor vocabulary and can’t understand Sarah. So, perhaps you might think that this terp would not be scheduled again. But she was. And then, there was the day that she spent an entire class period explaining to Sarah how to measure the surface area of a vagina, and a right vagina , and of assorted other vaginas.

And of course, Sarah’s obnoxious mother (me!) let the school know that this terp had a slight vocabulary problem.
And the school let the teacher know and let the agency know. And then, they scheduled this woman to terp, again, for today.

So, to be honest, I was expecting another story.

When Sarah came home, I asked, “Did she spend math class signing vagina?” Since today was the review for the test over measuring the surface area of…triangles, this was, actually, a rather obvious question.

But she hadn’t. Although the teacher drew 4 triangles on the board and demonstrated how to solve for surface areas, he managed to avoid saying the word “ triangle” during the entire class period.

However, the terp managed to find another word to masturbate…I mean mutilate. “Perfect”. Which, when she was done with it was not perfect, it was “F***”.

Now, in a normal situation, you might expect that Sarah could say something to the interpreter like, “ Ummmm, you really should sign it this way.” And then Sarah could demonstrate the correct sign for her.
But, of course, this is not a normal world, and this is the same terp that we have previously explained to the school, cannot understand Sarah.

You might wonder, what do I mean when I state that this interpreter cannot understand Sarah, so I will give an illustration from what happened , today.


This morning, Sarah and the terp both arrived before the start of the first class. Sarah asked her (knowing that she commutes from near Chicago),"What time do you wake up in the morning?"
This is not a tough question and Sarah signed it clearly and slowly.
The interpreter said, "What?"
Sarah again, more slowly, signed, "What time do you wake up in the morning?"
The interpreter said, "Please tell me, again."
Sarah signed the same thing very slowly.
The interpreter got a puzzled look on her face and looked at the classroom clock, looked at Sarah and signed, "Time now?"
Sarah said, "No, not what time it is now. I mean what time did YOU wake up, THIS morning?"
The interpreter said, "You?"
Sarah said, "No, not ME. I mean YOU. What time did YOU wake up?"
The interpreter sat there looking puzzled for a couple of minutes then said, "Oh, 4:00"

Maybe this will illustrate why Sarah cannot correct the interpreter when she signs "F***", why Sarah cannot participate in classroom discussion, or ask a teacher a question, and why she is petrified a teacher will ask her a question and she will have to rely on such an interpreter to interpret what she says.


Of course, this interpreter is scheduled again for next Tuesday. I am sure it will be a very educational experience.

And another Story.