One chooses to work in the helping professional because of a passion that one has. Helping others is not also an easy task. At times one is advocating for one stance or many. The best role to play when advocating is the neutral role. However, conflicts can arise when advocating. Determining what is the best outcome for the client and the other party involved is using conflict resolution.
To obtain a better understanding an interview with Julie Pickering, who works with NIS (Networking Interpreting Services) and does ASL (American Sign Language). Summarized thoughts are drawn from the interview that was taken. Toishauna An advocate’s work is never done, and I too would love to be an advocate to help those individuals that cannot help themselves or just need that extra voice heard to get the job done. As Julie showed in the interview as it takes dedication, termination, discipline, and the list goes on and on.
Making sure one learns all about his or her job, and do it to the very best of their ability is extremely important. Knowing that what is important as well as what is the best interest of the client or agency, are all important to follow. Signing a very good job, and believe it would be a very rewarding job. Toishauna would want to make sure that people can get all the help they can receive. Veronica Interviewing Julie provided a better understanding of her job and the position that she plays as an interpreter and an advocate. When advocating for the deaf one has to learn patience.
Signing takes time an interpreter. Doctors, especially in the hospital setting, need to have more knowledge of working with the hearing impaired. Advocating for more education for the Doctor on his or her continuing education classes would teach them to work collaborating more with patients with disabilities. When time is not rushed the interpreter, the client, and the hearing is all less frustrated. One did not choose to have a disability, but help advocating for a better communication is essential. Playing a neutral or alliance role is important advocating for one’s with disabilities.
Keyona Keyona was touched to learn about Julie and the advocacy role and for the hearing impaired. Keyona has taken a couple college classes of sign language and believes it is just as hard as learning a foreign language. Keyona has encountered in her job where she sees how much patience is involved through the phone relay (TTY). Through the phone relay how important the ‘voice’ was heard. Keyona believes that being an advocate has so many rewards to come with the territory also equally think that it is a very heavy role.
Advocating sort of relates to being something like a lawyer, whereas you are standing with this person or this agency side defending him or her at all costs. As the advocate you are defending based on what you are being told by that person or agency and based. No matter if gut instinct tells you otherwise you must either defend to the best of your abilities or prosecute to the best of your abilities. That is the only “hiccup” I was regarding the advocate role. Kristie Julie’s job as a sign language interpreter is an important and rewarding job.
She has to make sure that people understand what the deaf individual is saying. Julie job is to ensure that the deaf community she is working with have their needs met in their daily lives. Julie describes the hearing person in the conversations can sometimes be difficult to work with because they can become frustrated that his or her words need to be interpreted on a not so quick process. Julie wishes that the person who can hear would have more patience throughout the process. It is nice that Julie can withdraw or decline any case that goes against her beliefs and values.
Advocating for the deaf would be difficult. Not only would it take extensive knowledge and studying (something that surprised Julie as well), but it takes a great deal of patience and understanding when learning. Hearing about an advocate’s experience provided a glimpse of how difficult it may be. There will not always be full cooperation. However, on can find comfort in realizing there is no force to take on something that displays potential discomfort. In helping one advocate, one can easily get stressed or burned out.
Advocacy – “influencing decisions affecting the welfare or interests of another individual or group, a person partial to one party, to summons one help” (Barsky, 2007). All of these definitions were displayed by Julie and her role in the human services world. Ensuring that the client needs are met and not compromised is the number one role of the advocate position. As a team the conclusion is drawn that while being a tough pair of shoes to fill, there is a greater reward at the end of the tunnel for fulfilling this position.
