Chronicles of a Court Reporting Intern - Part 2

I’m a little bummed I have yet to shadow any CART providers. Although it has not yet worked out, I have had the opportunity of talking and spending time with several reporters who do provide CART services. I’ve decided I will just consider this as more of an instructional type of interning. Yes, perhaps this is a slight bend in the rules, but the wealth of knowledge that they have shared with me has been invaluable and extremely insightful, so I say it's okay.

For my non-court reporting friends, CART is simply an assistive technology which allows more effective communication for individuals with a hearing impairment. For instance, say an individual has a hearing impairment and is enrolled in college. Thanks to the Americans with Disabilities Act, they have the right to request assistance, thus, enter a CART provider. A CART provider would attend class with the student, and using the same “court reporting” skills, provide realtime services. In essence, they would translate every spoken word as it is being said, and their translation would be fed to a computer screen for the student. This is just one example of CART. There are obviously, other areas where CART services can be provided beyond the educational setting.

I've always loved the idea of doing something that really helps other. As someone who provides these services, you are really making a difference. It seems that it would be a very rewarding and satisfying job. I am very hopeful that at some point I will be able to sit in, and shadow a CART provider, as I'm sure this would give me an even better perspective. I am very fascinated by this area and have great deal of interest in it.