Dallas ISD interpreter and blind son inspire others

Rocio Castillo, a translator and interpreter in Translation Services, knows first-hand that sometimes it’s difficult to juggle work and children, but that it is still possible to help them live life to the fullest especially if they have special needs.

Castillo’s son, Malachi, is 18 and a 2024 graduate of North Dallas High School. He is also blind and has other disabilities, but that doesn’t stop him from living a life full of joy, she said. 

“Malachi wakes up smiling every day,” Castillo said. “So that really affected me in a way where I decided that I was going to stop being sad about all the things that he can’t do and just enjoy the things that he can do.” 

Her son’s happy disposition inspired her to make life choices that would include him in things that would bring him joy or help him learn.

With this goal in mind, Castillo helped her son in his mission to become homecoming duke. She made posters featuring the singer Drake and accompanied him to the homecoming dance where he was crowned duke and recognized with others who were part of the homecoming court. Seeing Malachi smiling and happy during his coronation gave her a sense of inclusion. 

“I got to experience the dance with him, and kids would just come up to him and say ‘What’s up Malachi?’ And he was just smiling. He couldn’t see them, but he was happy,” she said. 

Another one of Castillo’s goals has been to help her son achieve more independence, which he has done by using the white cane that allows the blind and visually impaired to navigate their surroundings and achieve more independence at work, school, and the community. White Cane Awareness Day, celebrated on Oct. 15, brings attention to this essential tool and its users. 

Working with her son helped Castillo, who for six years worked as a one-on-one teacher assistant to a student with disabilities, find joy in helping the student reach his goals, including being able to walk.   

After working as a teacher assistant, Castillo became an attendance clerk before then becoming an interpreter/translator. 

“I went in as Malachi’s mom, the mom to this child with special needs, but also with knowledge of special education and the ARD (Admission, Review, and Dismissal) process, and I was also fluent in Spanish,” Castillo said. Now, an interpreter in ARD meetings, a process she knows well, she is able to provide families of children who have disabilities with a service she once used.

“I love it. It doesn’t even feel like work because I love it,” she said. Castillo said she often runs into persons in the district who either worked with her son or know him, and she is often reminded of the positive and lasting impression he has made. She calls these moments full circle moments.

While Castillo is helping other families, Malachi spends the week at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Austin. Castillo believes this move was great for her son because everything is geared towards the blind and visually impaired, which is helping his self-confidence. On the weekends, Malachi returns to his mom. 

“It’s like going away to college,” Castillo said. She said that the experience has been fruitful for Malachi in many ways. Castillo said that one of the things that has helped her and her son is both of them finding a sense of community. 

“I just try to live in a way where he can enjoy life, and it also helps him being out there in the community,” Castillo said. “It’s important for people to see that people like him exist and are capable of living this great life, regardless of their limitations.”