We here at the Moody Neurorehabilitation Institute often host patients and family members that speak Spanish as a primary language. Spanish-speaking TLC staff members are generally on-hand to translate during therapies and other necessary interactions, but on occasion TLC staff will have need to use a phone translation service (in a meeting updating family on progress, for example). To utilize this service, a staff member will call the service phone number which connects directly to a translator. The translator can then translate between all parties involved via speaker-phone.
When using such a translator, it is important to pause every few sentences so as to allow the translator to translate that which has just been stated. On one memorable occasion a therapist spoke for too long without pause and upon realizing her error, stopped herself and apologized for not stopping sooner. The translator agreed that to do his job effectively he would require more frequent pauses. He then added that he cannot depend upon notes taken while someone is giving him information to translate because he is blind. He was doing his job utilizing memory and language skills exclusively.
Reflecting upon this situation there is an important lesson to be learned for all individuals with disabilities, including brain injury survivors contending with long-term deficits. A translator position is the perfect occupation for a bilingual blind person. The job requires excellent speech and finely-honed cognitive skills, but in no way requires vision. The job matches the person’s strengths to a central task while sidestepping the influence of any weaknesses. After an injury, many brain injury survivors need to find new jobs because newly acquired deficits do not allow them to return to their previous occupations. It is important during the job search process to honestly identify post-injury strengths and weaknesses in order to find jobs that rely on strengths while minimizing the impact of any weakness. By taking this important step survivors are more likely to enjoy success in the working world, just like the blind translator from our story.
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