CART: Up-Skills For The Job, And Confidence For The Future with Michelle Coffey, Ireland
CART: Up-Skills For The Job, And Confidence For The Future with Michelle Coffey, Ireland
By Monette Benoit, All Rights Reserved.
Michelle Coffey, Premier Captioning & Realtime Ltd., entered reporting in 1992. She earned her NCRA RPR in 1996, and her CRI in 2001.
Michelle also holds a degree in criminal psychology and diploma in counseling from the University College Dublin in Ireland.
Michelle Coffey and I met in Australia in 2000 when I was keynote speaker for the Shorthand Reporter Association of Australia, SRAA.
In Fremantle, I spoke about reporting, streaming to the Internet and also working with deaf/Deaf, oral deaf and hard of hearing, HOH.
My seminars were realtimed to a large screen and sign interpreted in Australian sign language, a first.
Our friendship began the day we spoke on a captioning panel. She has the brightest spirit. Michelle truly enhanced the session with her wisdom and humor.
Several days later, we bumped into each other – deep within the Australian Bush. A small world indeed.
Michelle Coffey has been a true leader in Ireland. She has a wonderful can-do attitude. When I see her name in my e-mails, I smile knowing “this is going to be entertaining and good.” Michelle was the first captioner in Ireland.
No surprise here that she has led another first in her country. I am honored to share Michelle Coffey’s first CART path within Ireland.
Michelle Coffey, RPR, CRI: I’m proud to say that Ireland was there at the beginning of court reporting, that is Ward Stone Ireland, who is generally accepted to be the inventor of the stenograph keyboard, as we know it today. But in modern-day Ireland the court reporting profession is under threat, from electronic recording and declining numbers of experienced professionals.
Ireland has a very different court-reporting environment to that of the United States. In Ireland we have a reasonably small number of court reporters; however, we also have a small number of courts in which to work. But when, in the last 18 months, a large portion of the courts moved over to electronic recording, we saw a massive reduction in the amount of available work for the reporters. This caused panic, with many reporters questioning what they were going to do now? How were they going to earn enough money?
All the ‘hard’ questions came to the fore.
We were left with a decision, whether to wade into the ever-shrinking marketplace and vie for work there, or to venture out into an area as yet untried in the Irish market.
The question of whether to stay in a declining marketplace, where everyone will undoubtedly face a decrease in earnings, or to look to a new opportunity which would leave the status quo relatively intact, was simple.
Our answer was CART.
And so, after many months of negotiations, explanations and demonstrations, we are proud to announce that the first-ever CART services have begun in Ireland.
Prior to this, a cart was something pulled by a horse; Irish CART services did not exist. Well, they didn’t!
But once we set out on this road we were determined to change that. So our first job was to engage with the different types of service providers already in this field.
We spoke to Irish Sign Language interpreters, to Speedtexters, and to note-takers, and in the process we all learned a lot about the pros and cons of all the services.
Next, we spent some time talking to different interest groups, from the National Association for the Deaf, to DeafHear (a hard-of-hearing association), to Irish Deaf Kids, all the way through to the access officers at educational institutions.
And at each point, when we did our “show and tell” the response was always the same, “This is fantastic, why haven’t we heard of it before?”
But the most important people we met were the students who were with us on this new road of discovery. And it was never far from our minds as we prepared for the beginning of term, that the weight of expectation on us was enormous; from the students that they would get a service appropriate to their needs; from the colleges that we would provide a suitable access solution for their students; and from ourselves and the up-and-coming CART reporters, that we prove that CART services can, and should, be an integral part of accessibility services for all educational establishments in Ireland.
However, much more telling and – proof that this service is necessary and will be a success is a statement from Emma, the first student to take up the service.
After having only two sessions with a CART provider, she had this to say, “I can’t believe the difference CART has made to my life.
Did you know that I began this degree course four years ago but had to drop out because I couldn’t participate in my PBL (peer-based learning) lectures?”
Well, we didn’t know that, but it certainly makes it much easier to study and up-skill for the job when you hear that what you do can has such a profound effect on someone else’s life!
And it was never far from our minds as we prepared for the beginning of term, that the weight of expectation on us was enormous; from the students that they would get a service appropriate to their needs; from the colleges that we would provide a suitable access solution for their students; and from ourselves and the up-and-coming CART reporters, that we prove that CART services can, and should, be an integral part of accessibility services for all educational establishments in Ireland.
However, much more telling and – proof that this service is necessary and will be a success is a statement from Emma, the first student to take up the service.
After having only two sessions with a CART provider, she had this to say, “I can’t believe the difference CART has made to my life.
Did you know that I began this degree course four years ago but had to drop out because I couldn’t participate in my PBL (peer-based learning) lectures?”
Well, we didn’t know that, but it certainly makes it much easier to study and up-skill for the job when you hear that what you do can has such a profound effect on someone else’s life!
Another fan of the newly available Irish CART services is Caroline Carswell, founder of Irish Deaf Kids, a charity supporting inclusive mainstream education for deaf children in Ireland.
Caroline was new to CART, and its simplicity blew her away.
She said, “For the first time in my life, I could follow a group discussion word for word and contribute without risking a non sequitur. For lip-readers, the law of multiples applies: the more speakers in a group, the harder a discussion topic becomes to follow. It’s like, Chinese whispers, anyone?”
Now, as we look back on our journey to get CART recognized in Ireland, we think “How did we do it?”
Well, did you ever have the feeling that being a member of an organization, whether it’s CARTWheel or the NCRA, is like being a Musketeer? You know, “One for all and all for one”?
Well, that’s exactly how I felt, but the Athos, Porthos and Aramis to my d’Artagnan were some of the most experienced and supremely talented people in our profession. They each gave of their time, expertise and encouragement, instantly and unstintingly when I needed it.
My eternal thanks, and admiration to Dayette Zampolin, Gayl Hardeman and Monette Benoit for their help, advice, vision, encouragement, and even offers to jump in and help out (remotely of course) if we needed it!
Does that not speak volumes about our profession?
Even though our work can be a solitary job, we know that we will never be alone when there are still so many passionate and generous colleagues out there.
And that gives me confidence for the future of our profession!
Michelle Coffey may be reached: www.pcri.ie and michelle@pcr.ie
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About Monette Benoit, B. B.A., Paralegal, CCR, CRI, CPE, CART Captioner, Instructor, Public Speaker, Consultant, Columnist: Since 1990, Monette is the multiple-title author of books & Purple Books test prep. Co-author, Emmett Donnelly, earned his B.S. in English; languages, Latin, Greek, German; sciences; and his M.Ed.- working with SATs and ACTs for decades.
Monette, an experienced 35+ year court reporter, has taught multiple theories, all academics, speed classes, and 225-homeroom within NCRA-approved schools and community college. Daughter of educators, Monette understands challenges in our multi-faceted, growing industry.
In 1993, she CART captioned for a Deaf mass, San Antonio, Texas. Wonderful opportunities presented from Big D, Little D, Oral Deaf, HOH – special moments.
Monette Benoit has worked with thousands of professionals, students, instructors. She’s worked to create new court reporting programs, worked with federal grants, assisted instructors in developing curriculum for in-class and online students. Years ago, she was named the Court Reporting Whisperer by CR students and reporters.
Her confidential tutoring, coaching, has assisted thousands to advance with specific, custom-designed guidance!
Monette’s Musings is an informative, motivational blog for busy individuals seeking to create success –and– to enjoy this special path. Monette’s goal IS your success.
An American RealTime/Captioning Services, LLC: www.ARTCS.com Monette may be contacted www.CRRbooks.com – Monette.purplebooks@CRRbooks.com Blog: www.monettebenoit.com