Court Reporter considering offering CART

DS said:
webexplorer,

No, I have not checked to see if there were and HOH centers in my area, so thank you for that tip. I will certainly look into that. I guess I could check with the chamber of commerce.

And I believe that finances may be the same issue in this area, as I live in a small town.
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Most of the Deaf people live in clusters in city areas. Usually, the closest city will have a Deaf social that all the Deaf people attend to meet and talk about things. You could try typing in the city and use the phrase "Deaf social" or "Deaf Community". Its what I dead, I lost touch with my ASL as I grew up. I ended up being able to read well and write and type well. I am trying to touch base on my ASL and somehow I think I should be learning SEE (Signed Exact English). I really have a tough time of it being around people that can hear. CART is supposed to be this real time captioning as I heard it.
 
i have used CART in college. those who understand written english(grammer), it is great! ASL is good too if the person being served is fluent. CART in my experience imediately raised my grades as i was able to understand instructors better. There is always a need for CART in college and sometimes school settings. CART is great for meetings and in the work place as well. It was my saving grace. talk to the colleges and schools in the area. get some demographics on the amount of people who use asl interpreters in your area and then youll have a good idea of your chances of success using CART there. Also, I used Remote CART. You can provide CART services to anyone in the country via internet! my CART reporters were from california and maryland. At the time i lived in texas. I advise you contact CART Service Providers around the country and ask them how the remote CART set up would work for what you are wanting to do. you can sit at home and transcribe for someone in a diff town or state as long as you have internet. it is alot more stable as far as income goes! just a thought!
 
DS said:
I am a court reporter and am considering offering CART. I have no earthly idea how or where to contact the deaf in my area. I live in LaGrange, Georgia. Any guidance you can offer would be greatly appreciated!
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Most interpreters and CART providers don't usually contact the deaf consumers. They get their job assignments from the paying hearing client. For example, if you were providing CART services for college students, you would contract with the college. The college disabilities office would get the students' schedules and requests for CART, and then assign you to their classes.

Exceptions to that rule would be deaf professionals, such as lawyers, who might have a frequent and repeated need for CART in the performance of their duties. Through your contacts you have at the courthouse you might get some names.

I suggest you contact colleges, courts, hospitals, government agencies and interpreting service providers, and offer your services. It would probably be a good idea to have a brochure and business cards to hand out, and set up a website that describes what you do.

Your best bet for starting out would be to hook up with an existing full-service interpreting agency. You can always go independent contractor later. At least the time with the agency would give you a network of contacts, and experience within the deaf community for your resume.

You can also display your service at deaf-related trade shows.

I don't know how far you are from Georgia Perimeter College. They have an active interpreting program there, and they may be able to give you some guidance on how to get started in the local Georgia deaf community.
 
DS said:
...My speech recognition is not yet good enough for me to provide CART or captioning, but it's certainly my goal. But I just don't think that there's much of a demand for it in my area.
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Ah, so you haven't yet learned CART?
 
sallylou said:
... Deaf parties/litigants must have an ASL interpreter, I believe.
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Deaf parties (litigants, witnesses, jurors, etc.) must have whatever meets their communication needs. That could be CART, FM system, oral transliterating, ASL interpreting, SEE transliterating, certified deaf interpreter, or a combination of methods. It depends on the individual.
 
sallylou said:
That's true but if the deaf person does use ASL CART would not be sufficient.
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Maybe, maybe not. If the person is fluent in ASL and fully literate in English, then that person might opt for CART or ASL or both.

The attorneys have to worry about the deaf person saying that he/she did not understand the proceedings....
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That's true. That's also true when someone involved in the court proceedings speaks a non-English language, a low level of education, or other hindrances to following American English court proceedings. It's up to the court to determine the deaf person's communication needs from the get go, and deal with those needs appropriately. A little extra prep time is worth it in the long run because clear communication during the entire legal process will ensure results that will less likely be challenged at a later date.
 
sallylou said:
I think that the issue is what the party/litigant needs. It's important that he/she understands the proceedings and legal advice of the attorney without question....
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Exactly.
 
p.s.

If sign language terps are used for legal proceedings (court, interrogation, depositions, etc.), then all signing by all parties should be video recorded.
 
Hello! I haven't been on the site in a while and wanted to clear up some of the things that Reba didn't address. I am a working CART provider.

CART is a service whereby the spoken language is turned into the written word. Most often this service is performed by a stenographic reporter, (the funny little machine people :lol:) or a voice writer, (our friend DS) using a steno mask.

CART can be used in any place where the translation of spoken English into written English is needed. A few places off the top of my head are: court, college classes, seminars, large meetings, training meetings, web seminars, hospitals, doctor's offices.....I could go on forever. :D

Most of my jobs come from contacts with college office's of disability services, or from referrals from an ASL interpreting agency. I also have contacts with clients I have worked with before. There are some court reporters who offer realtime translations services for lawyers who also provide CART when the need arises. They also contact me when they are busy with deposition or court work.

The biggest thing about CART is that not everyone can provide it. It is up to the consumer to let someone know if the service being provided is working for them. That includes asking about font size and color, missing words, or any other issue that comes up.

If a CART writer is not helping you, and you can not read directly from their screen, you need to let them and whoever is footing the bill for them know. If you know that CART will be provided for you in a setting where you can give them information ahead of time, do so. It will make everyone's life better.

If anyone has anymore questions about CART please ask me!
 
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