However, if the student is talking or doodling on paper then the student needs to assume the responsibility and accept the consequences. The interpreter has to walk a very fine line of not becoming the deaf student's memory which can lead to dependency. If inattention leads to a need for clarification, students need to learn that it's okay-everyone makes mistakes. Self-esteem and confidence grow as they pick themselves up and try to do better the next time. Deaf students need to learn that they have a right to understand when people who do not know sign language are trying to communicate with them.
Students learn that it is appropriate to seek out and request interpreting services.
Then the lesson is augmented in their mainstream classrooms. For the next few days or weeks, both the teacher and the interpreter find opportunities to prompt the children to recognize that an interpreter's services are needed in specific situations or activities. This situation frequently occurs very naturally when you have two or more deaf students in the same classroom working in different activity groups. The students can learn to determine which group needs interpreter services, such as a reading group versus independent computer work. These lessons give the responsibility of requesting services to the students, empowering them to be in control of their own lives.