Hands + Eyes = ASL: Unrestricted Access to Communication

Unrestricted access, to Collie, meant total equality in communication; further, it meant equal access to services and opportunities afforded to everyone else. She took on the role of interpreter to her father at a very young age, helping to aid in communication when they went out together. Later in life, she was hired as an interpreter in Rochester, long before it was standard practice to hire professional CDIs among agencies. She avidly advocated for the provision of a sign-language interpreter while she was employed as an histology technician at Strong Memorial Hospital in the ‘80s and ‘90s, and again when she worked as a clinical social worker at Rockland Psychiatric Center in the early 2000s.