Blind Latina interprets for AT & T services - la historia de Janet Eckles - TA: the story of Janet Eckles - Cover Story

Janet Eckles touches the lives of the non-English speaking Hispanic community across the country without ever having to leave home. The Orlando resident is a Spanish-language interpreter for AT&T Language Line Services. The calls are routed directly to her home. Hospitals, 911 emergencies, utility companies, insurance companies and courts are just a few examples of organizations benefiting from her interpreting skills.

Twelve years ago Eckles gradually started losing her vision. Suffering from Retinitis Pigmentosa (RT), the disease began with changes in the color of the retina, which followed a slow process of degeneration and ultimately total blindness. Janet Eckles openly discusses all the stages she went through when she was faced with the reality of her visual impairment. "I went through denial, anger and blaming, but there was no self pity," she says.

Becoming a productive human being in spite of her limitations became Eckles' goal. In 1987, she translated a school report for a friend and that was the beginning of her new career. She contacted the Berlitz Language Institute and was tested for her interpretation skills. They were especially impressed by her retention and command of both English and Spanish languages.

Eckles was hired immediately. Her first assignments were medical and business matters which did not present great challenges. It wasn't until she was told that she was being sent to Immigration and Naturalization Court that she panicked. She called the Mobility Training Counsel For the Blind and said, "I need to learn how to get in and out of the court building by myself." After a brief training session she was on her own with a white cane. "If I didn't trip others or myself I was lucky," she added. "The cane simply told people to stay out of my way."

Eckles' job performance on her first day paved the way for a very successful four-year career as a court interpreter. She went on to do trials in federal court. "I would sit through courtroom proceedings and listen to newscasts and quietly trained myself to memorize everything," she says.

In 1991, she joined AT&T Language Line Services. "When I heard their interpreters worked from home I called right away." Eckles is the only AT&T interpreter that does not take any notes. She depends solely on her memory skills.

The most challenging linguistic situation as an AT&T Language Line interpreter involved a call from a computer company. She remembers the representative saying, "Now I want you to draw a diagram of the different parts we'll be discussing." Eckles had the option of disqualifying herself from the call and handing it over to a sighted person. Instead, she decided to give it her all. As she listened to the intricate explanation, she started to picture the computer parts and mentally labeled them. She very successfully finished the call. "I could have said, I'm visually impaired and cannot draw a diagram," says Eckles. But, that would not have been her style.

Eckles has modeled her survival skills from the example set forth by her parents. In 1964, they immigrated from Bolivia to Missouri seeking a better future for their children. Although there was a natural period of adjustment for the Eckles family, Janet was totally fluent in English after just one year.

While some people would like to think that Eckles has suffered a tremendous loss, she feels quite the opposite. "I was not able to see what I see now when I was sighted. I see things totally different," she states. As an AT&T Language Line interpreter, Janet Eckles proves every day that her blindness has not kept her from helping others.

EN ESPANOL:

Janet Eckles toca la vida de la comunidad hispana que no habla inglés en todo el país desde su hogar. Esta residente de Orlando es una intérprete de español del AT&T Language Line Services. Las llamadas son enviadas directamente a su casa. Los hospitales, emergencias del 911, companías de servicios públicos, companías de seguro y cortes son sólo algunos ejemplos de las organizaciones que se benefician de su habilidad para traducir.

Hace doce años Eckles gradualmente fue perdiendo su visión. Al sufrir de Retinitis Pigmentosa (RT), enfermedad que empezó con cambios en el color de la retina, seguido por un lento proceso de degeneración hasta llegar a la ceguera total. Janet Eckles habla abiertamente acerca de todas las etapas que la han llevado a enfrentar la realidad de su incapacidad visual. "Pasé del rechazo, al enojo y la culpa, pero no sentí lástima por mi," dijo.

Transformarse en un ser hamano productivo a pesar de sus limitaciones fue la meta de Eckles. En 1987, ella tradujo un reporte escolar para un amigo y ese fue el inicio de su nueva carrera. Ella contactó a Berlitz Language Institute y evaluaron sus habilidades para traducir. Estaban impersionados en especial por su retentiva y comando del inglés y el español.

Eckles fue contratada de inmediato. Sus primeras tareas fueron asuntos médicos y de negocios los cuales no representaron un gran reto. No fue sino hasta que le comunicaron que seria enviada al Immigration and Naturalization Court (Corte de Inmigración y Naturalización) que entró en pánico. Ella llamó al Mobility Training Counsel for the Blind (Consejo de Entrenamiento Móvil para los Ciegos) y les dijo, "Necesito aprender cómo entrar y salir del edificio de la corte por mis propios medio?. Después de una corta sesión de entrenamiento ella se estaba valiendo por sí misma con su bastón blanco. "Si no me tropezaba con los demás o conmigo, andaba de suerte", comenta. "El bastón simplemente le decía a la gente que se mantuviera fuera de mi camino".