Story of the Day 3/ 8/ 2012

My daughter was having a conversation with a young friend.
Her friend is Deaf. She started attending public school and using an interpreter a while ago, and she had a really good interpreter who has recently been replaced.

This young girl is very concerned about the new interpreter.
"She is blind."

Sarah wondered how the school could have hired a blind interpreter. For a deaf student.
She has nothing against hiring blind people to do most jobs, but....she cannot figure out how this would work.

"Why do you think she is blind?"

"When I sign to her, she keeps signing back, 'What? What?' So she must not be able to see what I am signing."

Sarah sat there for a second, stunned, and not because she believed that the school had hired an interpreter who was blind for this Deaf child - an interpreter who , because she was blind, couldn't see her signs.
My daughter was stunned because she knew that what had happened was that the school had hired an interpreter who didn't know enough sign language to understand a 9 year old girl.
Sarah has seen enough of these "interpreters" hired by her own school.

Then Sarah, responding to this young girl, nodded her head.
Because the interpreter might as well be blind for all the good she will be doing this child.