Posted on 11/29/2010 7:15:32 PM PST by darrellmaurina
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Nov. 20, 2010) — Family members often turn out in large numbers for graduation ceremonies of trainees, but that’s difficult for family members who can’t hear what’s happening. According to Anne Marie Laredo, Fort Leonard Wood’s school liaison officer, a trainee recently graduated from basic training without his family being present because she couldn’t find a sign language interpreter to help. That shouldn’t have happened, Laredo said, and she’s asking for help so it won’t happen again. “I felt horrible about that,” Laredo said. “I had a unit that was having a graduation and a family day. I looked, used all of my contacts. I have one school counselor and I have a chaplain’s spouse who had in the past had been able to support, but unfortunately for this particular occasion, they were unable to, so we had a servicemember’s family who opted not to attend their son’s graduation because there was not going to be a sign language interpreter available.”
(Excerpt) Read more at pulaskicountydaily.com ...
It’s against the law.
My daughter-in-law is deaf and I understand the need for interpreters. We have had problems finding them for funerals, weddings, etc.
Our daughter is in her 2nd year of ASL and will make it her foreign language arts with 4 years for college. Japanese is her second language. (She’s an Anime fan). Her ASL teacher said she is quite good and should have no problems finding extra work as an interpreter. There are many students now studying ASL as their foreign language.
Tell your DIL to stay encouraged.
Tell your DIL to stay encouraged.
This makes no sense to me. Why punish your kid for this?
Since I don’t know who the family is, I can’t speak for them. I think, from what I heard from the School Liaison Officer at her monthly presentation at Fort Leonard Wood, the parents felt that if they could not hear or understand what was going on, there was not much point in attending. However, that’s putting two and two together and perhaps coming up with 22 instead of 4. The key point the SLO wanted to communicate is that they need volunteers to help to avoid the problem in the future.
Thank you, and thanks to your daughter who is interested in this. Our granddaughter is 7 years old and, because her Mom is deaf, is very proficient in sign language, along with her little brother. I know that she will be able to interpret when she gets a little older.
That is wonderful about your grandchildren. Many deaf read lips quite well but when you sign to them the smile on their faces is like sunshine!
Both my grandchildren are hearing, but have learned sign language from their mother since birth. It’s easy to learn at that age.
Oops. I didn’t mean to insinuate that your grandchildren weren’t able to hear, I just meant it was wonderful that they’ll be able to use this their entire life. Yes, children pick up ALL languages easier than adults. Less cobwebs I guess ;D!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.