Once we all have been in business for a few years, if lucky, we have a thank you note or 2 from clients. Well, I received what might be my all-time favorite note and I’d like to share it with you.

Not to be bragging or boasting, but this letter is deeper than “thank you for helping me”. It shows how my profession can change lives and how lives can benefit from necessary accommodations. I am privileged to be skilled in a profession that is not only needed but really allows many to participate more fully in everyday life.

As a professional cartographer (CART Captioner/Court Reporter), I am passionate about bringing the spoken word to those with hearing challenges. I’m also impressed with the added retention gained from both hearing and seeing a spoken message, and the barriers we remove by captioning those speakers for whom English is a 2nd language.

Captioning is being included in more organizations but there is so much room for improvement. Beyond the newsrooms and courtrooms to seminars, lectures, and classrooms, videos and websites, advertising and marketing, health care and financial services, there is no end to providing inclusion for all. So, here is my favorite thank you note, grab a tissue.

From Jesse;
I’m a sentimental human and because it’s my last week of classes, I must properly thank one person. If I wait until our final class to end this week, I will be crying too hard to post this. After going deaf in 2013, I did not think I’d ever be able to participate in classes. Enter Annette, aka the “Skype” lady. She listens to all of my classes, every day, and provides live captioning for me. She has been doing this my entire college career! Every class I have taken, Annette has been there (virtually). She hears my rants, tells me when a professor is wrong about something and says “hello” to my friends when they read my screen and ask questions. She trash talks with me and supports me in every way possible.

I tell her she is my fairy godmother, but she is more than that. She is everything!!! I owe it all to her. Thank you, Annette, for being my ears for so long. For going out of your way for me. For witnessing my growth from a combative, angsty, teenager to an intellectually daring graduate. Despite the millions of words you’ve transcribed on my behalf, I’ll never have the words to thank you properly.

Annette Blough, RPR, CRR, CRC, CSR-5191
Q&A Reporting, Inc.
Qacaptions.com 616-881-3594