Questions?

Gabriela Delgado notified me that she posted information about this blog on her We Connect Now site.  Read and explore.  Feel free to comment or share.  Above all, if you have questions, just contact me.  Thanks for visiting!

"Neither snow nor rain nor...

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds"  -- Weather is part of what I do.

I had the opening weeks of my assignments during record temperatures.  What was the outside temperature yesterday?

I walk in all kinds of weather between assignments on any given day, but 105 yesterday?  Add the heat index, and that 105 outside felt like almost 121 degrees!  Add the humidity here, and it was like breathing syrup while I rushed around out there.

I won't discuss how hot it was INSIDE my car. I got in and out of my car between each assignment when it had been sitting in those temperatures on a concrete lot in full sun.  Can a car melt?  I don't know.  I don't know how I didn't melt!

So yeah, postal workers, I hear ya.  At least I didn't have yard dogs trying to chase me.  :-)

Survival on campus.

 8/22/11

Today was the first day of classes on our main campus.

I was "loaded for bear"-- with bottled water and protein bars to get me through the hot day.  I left my house two hours ahead of time to be certain to beat the heavy traffic on the first day at school. I arrived an hour early, but hey, I wasn't late!  I was definitely there and set up well before class was to begin.  :-)

It was hot outside all day, but no more than the usual heat I experience gardening in the summer down south.  Nothing prepared me for the scorching temperatures inside my car when I had a break at high noon.  The inside temperature was 110, and my steering wheel was so scalding hot that I couldn't touch it with my bare hands.  Yikes!   Be safe out there in this heat.

I thought some of you might be interested in the types of courses being captioned during one semester.  Here is a general list of some lectures and labs that will be captioned --  many Law courses, Anthropology, Biology, Latin, Art, English, Kinesiology, English, History, Chemistry, Communication Studies, Math, Physics, Petroleum Engineering, Plant Pathology, Psychology, and, and and...  whew!  It's a long list, but it offers an idea of what we do for our students.  We serve where we are needed, in the subjects and settings needed, and we do our best to render the message truthfully so that our students succeed.

What kinds of students do we caption for?  Many different students with many different accommodation needs at many levels of education from Freshmen to graduate school to law school and beyond.  Captioning is not just for students who are deaf or hard of hearing anymore.  There are visual, mental, emotional, language, social, physical, etc. challenges (temporary, intermittent, or permanent) for which captioning is a great accommodation.

Captionists provide services for students on the main campus and anywhere their courses require us to be. As I mentioned before, we have provided services for students in every subject area and at every grade level from Freshman through graduate level at varied locations.  We caption in person as well as remotely.

Captionists are in so many different settings with students.  We follow clients through classes and labs, but also caption for appointments, meetings, tours, events, presentations, group project meetings, plays, mystery dinners, photo dark rooms, plaster labs, art studios, student teaching assignments, and more.

Let me think about it a second and name some assignments I have captioned just to give you an idea of the possibilities: 

• In darkrooms and photo labs (in absolute darkness with my computer screen and smart phone set to red fonts and black backgrounds only).
• In a plaster lab wearing old clothes, safety googles and respirator mask, and with myself, my desk, my bags, and all my equipment wrapped in plastic.
• As part of a live art exhibit, being wrapped in a cocoon of colored strings from head to toe while I captioned.
• At a Mystery Murder Dinner dressed as a background character in a sequined gown while my client was a participant.
• At live plays sitting in the back center with my screen brightness dimmed low so that it wasn't so distracting.
• At one library captioning a lecture, but with my client in another city-- whom I could see on a screen overhead.
• Remotely with seven locations connected on a screen panel viewed in front of the room.
• At meetings with captioning projected on a screen for a room filled with people.
• At law school during oral arguments, with one laptop receiving the captioning on the podium facing the student.  (Now we have C-Print® Mobile where students can receive live captioning on a discrete smart phone or device).
• In an art studio during group critiques of photography, with an entire room interacting with my student, sharing questions ,comments, and back and forth discussion about the art.
• For student teachers--with captioning projected on the back wall-- so that the student teacher could face his/her class while lecturing and read what the class was saying to him/her on the wall behind them.
• In work groups where I taught Deaf culture to the participants so they could interact with my client effectively.
• Sitting on the ground outside for an art demonstration with a glare screen and screen hood so my screen could be viewed in the sunny environment.
• At a walking tour in a gallery in town (captioning with my laptop on a rolling cart).
• In a basement in total darkness for an art class creating projects with black lights.
• In a chemical lab while students completed experiments.
• On a stage.
• In small seminar groups.
• ...and in many more situations than I can describe here.

I feel like I am a character in a Dr. Seuss book describing captioning-- I will caption in a house with a mouse and in a box with a, with a...well, with all that rhyming stuff.  :-)

As for devotion, this line of work requires a definite devotion to duty.  Captionists are like postal workers in that we are there in class waiting no matter what.  ALL students have the right to sleep in and miss a class when they are sick, or just on a nasty, cold, rainy day, or just to skip class, or even to skip for no reason at all.  Our students are no different from others when it comes to the right to such freedoms.

However, when my alarm goes off, I get up and go.  Being present and waiting is one of the best things captionists offer besides access to information.  Reliability is a part of our job description.  If a student decides to tough it out at the last minute and attend, sick, in all kinds of ugly weather, to make it to class through bad weather, arriving soaking wet, they will find their captionist waiting for them in class.  Students have to be able to count on the fact that their services will be there.  I may have galoshes on and squeak with every step I take down the hall all day, but I will be there ready to caption.

It doesn't matter if you are hearing, deaf, or challenged in many other ways..  All students have the same rights to real access, or to choose to stay home.  Yes, we captionists go to class, just in case the student is coming, but we don't caption if the student doesn't arrive.  We don't wait forever.  At some institutions, if a student hasn't arrived within ten minutes after the lecture begins, captionists leave to provide services elsewhere.  We do follow rules that vary depending upon where we work, but above all, we are reliable.  We have to be reliable so that our clients have the best chance of success.

I wish all of you continued success in your studies and careers.  I hope you benefit from having a C-Print® captionist by your side.  Tomorrow, I will get myself and my computer equipment in and out of my hot car, all over campus, all day.  I'll be there..hot, but ready to caption.  It's what we do.  If my student is going to be there, the least I can do is be there too, ready to caption.  :-)

~See Print Moderator

7. How do I use C-Print®?

What I do is type everything that is spoken in the class for my client/s. I use a phonetic abbreviation system that is very much like the one used for written shorthand or for court stenography. C-Print® software expands the abbreviations I type into the full words and text on a  screen for the student using accommodations. I can customize my dictionary as I work so that C-Print® grows along with my exposure to new terminology.

My student has a variety of options for receiving the captioning:

1. Sit nearby and read my laptop screen: A student may sit beside me, or some students prefer to sit behind or to the side of me to pretend they aren't the one receiving my services. They can sit where they can still see, but feel more anonymous and sit with classmates.
2. Connect the student laptop wirelessly to mine: The student can sit anywhere in the room or auditorium and receive the captioning on his/her laptop or smart device wirelessly. Some students prefer to be very anonymous, and this is a great option for that.
3. More than one student can use our services at the same time by sitting near enough to read our screens, by connecting wirelessly to our laptops, by connecting physically via cables, or by reading projected captioning.
4. Connect his/her laptop directly to my laptop via cables.
5. Receive a transcript directly if connected to my laptop, or wait until later for me to email it to him/'her or to upload it to a designated internet file storage for download to their laptop.

C-Print® has a chat feature which allows students and captionists to chat discretely. A student sometimes has a request during class, and the chat feature is a quick way to manage discussions with the captionists.

C-Print® is customizable. A student can ask the captionist to make the font larger, to angle the screen so that a reflection is removed, to change the background and font colors, etc. All of that discussion can take place discretely in the chat panes.

Chat is a great feature for non-oral (non-speaking) students. A student who is not oral can type a question to the captionist, and the captionist can raise a hand like any student in the room, wait to be called on, ask the question,and then caption the teacher's response.

If a student connects wirelessly to my laptop, they are using the Client Version of C-Print® . This version provides the student with many note-taking capabilities. This allows the student to split his/her desktop window in half. One side feeds the live captioning. The student has control of this view on their computer, and the student can scroll back and forward in the transcript. The other side is a virtual notebook. The student can change fonts, font colors, backgrounds, enter footnotes and sticky notes, resize the fonts, etc. The student notes can stand alone or be merged into the transcript.

What does a transcript look like?

Transcripts are in rich text format, and can be opened in Microsoft Word or any software that reads a rich text file (.rft).

At the top of my transcripts is a heading with the course name, course section, name of the captionist/s, and the date.
Various speakers are indicated: Teachers, Teacher's Assistants, etc.   Confidentiality is maintained.
Actions are indicated. A student reading my screen is not looking at the teacher or classroom around him/her. This student may not notice that something is being written on the board that they need to include in their notes. An action indicator in the transcript directs the student's eyes to the board, to new information on an overhead or side board, or to a teacher demonstrating something.  I also indicate when the board is being erased so a student can hurry to jot down information before it's gone or raise a hand to ask the teacher to let them finish copying it.
Extraneous noises or actions are indicated so a student is completely included in the class. I never want a student to think they may be missing something important or to feel excluded. A student who is reading lips may not realize that the teacher is just humming gibberish. If I don't indicate that in the transcript, the student may see the teacher's lips moving and wonder why I am not captioning what they are saying or why they can't make out what the teacher is saying. If a cell phone rings and everyone laughs, and I don't caption something indicating that, the student will wonder why everyone is laughing and looking all around the room. If an alarm goes off, and everyone suddenly jumps, the student needs to know what is happening and how to respond.
Here is a sample transcript:

MATH 1001-001
Captioned by Jane Doe
Monday, July 1, 2010 Teacher: Hello everyone, and welcome. I had a great weekend, and I hope you did too. I want to show you this (holding up flower). Does it look odd to you?
Students: (Laughter)
Teacher: Yeah, I grew this thing. Sad, ain't it? (Smiling)
I want to be sure we include the (Writing on Board) a + b + c part of the equation to show that a is not equal to b. John, would you close the door? John: Yes, sir. Teacher: Yes? Male Student: One of the Power Point slides is missing. Teacher: Thank you. Let me put it up on the side for you (Notes on Overhead). etc.

*End of Class*
Disclaimer: This confidential transcript was captioned in real-time utilizing C-Print® as a disability accommodation through (removed for privacy)... is strictly prohibited. If you have any questions, please email: (removed for privacy). (I didn't include an actual disclaimer, but it basically explains the meaning-for-mean goal of the software, prohibits sharing of transcripts with outsiders without permission and/or for purposes other than intended in the accommodations and contact details to ask for more information.)

~See Print Moderator 

6. C-Print® captioning.

C-Print® is a software that allows well-trained captionists to type with high rates of accuracy at high speeds (100 to 225+ wpm and more) in real-time. I type using an abbreviation system that is very similar to that used by court stenographers and in legal shorthand. The C-Print® software expands the abbreviations I type into the actual words on my laptop screen. The client can read everything that was said in the room. The abbreviations and words used can be customized by the C-Print® captionists in real time, as they work.
I am a real-time C-Print® captionist for university students and for law students who are deaf. I type all spoken words in the room in real time -- so that a client who is deaf can read them on my laptop screen (or their own laptop) in real-time. This allows my client real-time access in a hearing environment. Some of my clients are deaf and some have other special needs that are met through the way C-Print® provides access to information.
My clients have benefited from C-Print® captioning in various settings. I have captioned in many settings with many methods of delivery: live performances, while on stage with the captioning projected on a wall for everyone to read, during meetings using projected captioning, church services on a laptop for people seated next to me, walking tours of an art galleries, in a darkroom for photo developing, in a plaster room wrapped in plastic, outdoors seated on the ground with a glare blocker around the screen, as part of a live art exhibit where I was wrapped in tons of string while I captioned, at a Murder Mystery Dinner, for student teachers where I projected the student comments on the back wall so my client could present to the class and see their responses while facing them, remotely so that my client could remain connected remotely at the podium and read the audience questions on their own laptop, for live presentations so my client could connect remotely while presenting, and for seven remote classrooms at one time where my client was in a different location from me, etc.
I refer to my clients as "my students", much like a teacher refers to their students. I spend a lot of time each day for years in classes with each student, and we get to know each other pretty well. I really come to think of them as my students. I walk side by side with them through years of education, and by the time they graduate, it feels like a child earning their wings and leaving the nest. It is a special relationship that requires a high level of responsibility, high devotion to duty, reliability, and willingness to stay on the cutting edge with techniques and technology. Each captionist follows a strict Professional Code of Ethics and adheres to ADA, 504, and privacy laws. My clients are all different, and that has been an education for me in my career. I take great pride that my university and law school strive to offer the latest accommodations for special needs students. Many universities and higher graduate level institutions do not offer such extensive, outstanding accommodations for special needs. It goes without saying that most medical institutions do not offer these accommodations at all yet. People are just learning about real-time captioning and the need for it. I hope that one day, all medical appointments will allow for this necessary source of communication.
Many people don't realize the differences in deafness that exist. Some people are deaf, but do not read lips or sign. Some are not oral, meaning they prefer not to speak or can not speak. Some people hear, but do not speak. Some people do read lips, sign and speak. Some use Cued Speech. Some use home signs, which is a sign language unique to their family. Some use a combination of any or all of those things. Someone who can speak can still be completely deaf. Someone who can read lips may not sign, and vice versa. Some people may sign and be able to speak, or speak and not be able to sign.
New uses are being discovered for C-Print®. Some people have learning disabilities, processing disorders, social challenges, brain injuries, dyslexia, Usher's Syndrome, etc.  They may benefit from using transcripts during and after class. Some people may be blind or have visual challenges and benefit from listening to transcripts after class with a text to speech software, or they may convert the transcripts into Braille.
Other newer uses for C-Print® are related to languages. ESL (English as Second Language) students may benefit from the real-time captioning and availability of transcripts.  An English-speaking student can follow a foreign language course through C-Print®.  Courses that do not have a graded oral requirement can be helpful for a non-oral deaf student who has to fulfill a foreign language requirement.  Latin is one course that often has no oral requirement.  A student may demonstrate mastery of a language in written form if that is allowable.  Captionists have captioned Spanish, French, and especially Latin courses in real-time.
As I said, there are all kinds of "deaf," and there are many uses for C-Print® captioning. Maybe captioning will be helpful for you or someone you know right now. Maybe you will find a need for it later. I'm glad that now you know about it. Get the word out!


~See Print

1. What is C-Print®?

Here is just a little FYI to help if you are searching for C-Print® with a browser.  

“What is C-Print®,” you may ask? 

If you are into photography, you may have heard of chromogenic color prints called “C Prints” (note the lack of a hyphen in the name). 

C-Print®, with the hyphen in the name, is something else.

~See Print Moderator

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Welcome to See Print!

Why did I create this blog?

My original goal was to prepare a casual place to share information about captioning. I created this blog space, and it sat empty.

I recently saw an article about a university graduate, Gabriela McCall Delgado, who created a wonderful website for students with disabilities. I noticed the article didn't speak about C-Print® captioning as an accommodation for students who are deaf or who have special needs. At the same time, one of my captionist colleagues emailed Miss Delgado with information about C-Print® captioning.

Miss Delgado wanted to place a one-page blog about C-Print® captioning accommodations on her We Connect Now site.  I tucked information into this blog and here it is.

I hope to keep this blog positive in tone, and I want it to have family-friendly content safe for people of all ages to read.

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Thank you for visiting.
~See Print Moderator