NCRA member Rachel DeMasi uses steno skills to aid those with hearing difficulties
RESTON, Va., March. 22, 2021 — Rachel DeMasi of York County, Pa., is a stenographic captioner who has found a new way to use her skills to help those who have a hearing loss. A member of the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA), the country’s leading organization representing stenographic court reporters, captioners, and legal videographers, DeMasi made the move from working as an official court reporter in March 2020 to working for a company that employs steno captioners to aid people with hearing difficulties by providing captions during phone calls.
“The flexibility was wonderful,” said DeMasi. “I just log in as a call agent, and I’m set to go.”
Every day is different, and she never knows what the next call will bring. She only hears the one side of the call – the side that she needs to caption. Her job is just to get down as much of what the person says as possible, and her realtime is sent to the other person on the call as a caption stream.
“I don’t have the same advantages as a CART provider,” DeMasi explained when asked about prep material. “You just sort of drop into the call. You don’t know what the conversation is all about” since you hear only one side of the call. But DeMasi points out, you get a chance to become familiar with the subject matter as you wait for the conversation to continue.
She said she usually works about two to two-and-a-half hours before taking a break and generally works seven days a week, often picking up a late 7-9 p.m. shift to fit in with her personal schedule and meet her goals for how much she wants to work. The calls she has captioned have already ranged widely – from 911 calls to business or personal calls. The system also allows for use on Zoom, WebEx, and similar video call systems.
“It’s important to remember, no matter what happens in the call, you can’t intervene,” said DeMasi, noting that she’s “just an observer, a communicator.”
After a few months on the job, DeMasi said she’s learned to recognize the people who regularly use the service.
“My favorite moments are when people are really connecting with each other – so many emotional moments on the phone. A few times I was moved to tears. There were some family calls on Zoom between people who wouldn’t talk to each other, and then they were there, excited to share things.”
Ultimately, DeMasi said she feels that this has been a great job for her at this stage of her career. “The writing part can be challenging, but I like that I get to help right away with my skill. I can reach more people during the day,” she said. “It’s not right for everybody. But finding time to be creative and spend time with my family without the fear of deadlines is doing a lot for my heart and soul right now.”