Thursday, July 30, 2009

How Would You Feel about a Deaf Interpreter?

My daughter is 11. What an 11 year old wants to do when they grow up can change with each sunrise. However there are two dreams that come up regularly. She wants to be a swim instructor, and she wants to be a Deaf Interpreter.

I can actually see her doing both with relative ease. But what intrigues me is the idea of a deaf person being an interpreter for another deaf person. With her bilateral implants she has excellent comprehension in quiet situations, and she can use an FM system in noisier situations. But there may be times when she would need to have something repeated. How would you feel about it? Would it bother you or would you accept her? Would it even be worthy of notice?

K.L.

12 comments:

CDM said...

I actually had an interpreter that was deaf herself while I was in school. She's been deaf for most of her life, but she really trained herself to learn how to hear and LISTEN with her hearing aids while she was in high school. She really has made excellent use of her hearing aids, and usually was able to interpret for her deaf students without ever missing a beat. She's a brillant woman and a dear friend of mine nowadays. She doesn't interpret anymore but she takes care of the deaf school library. She was definitely a great interpreter though, very understanding and encouraging. She even encouraged some students to try listening and lipreading on their own if possible, and using the interpreter if they should ever miss something and need to get caught up.

K.L. said...

CDM, that's wonderful. Thanks for the story.

Anonymous said...

I am a sign language interpreter.I know that most of my deaf clients would prefer to have a deaf intepreter. I think that is awesome. She knows the language more than a hearing person.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous, it makes sense. That's a
good idea.

Anonymous said...

They do have CDIs, Certified Deaf Interpreters who are used in specific situations that may call for specialized interpreters. These include interpreters for deafblind people, foreign deaf people that haven't learned ASL, and interpreting for deaf people who may not be able to understand a regular interpreter and needs more support.

Dianrez said...

Absolutely. I have seen Deaf interpreters and interpreters who have hearing problems or had in the past. They were not only great interpreters, they were also intimately cultural about it and could sense on the fly exactly where the Deaf person was not comprehending.

Rare is the person who knows both the subject and has the skill of interpreting it. They can be found in colleges and schools for the deaf where they specialize in interpreting certain subjects such as life sciences, technology and social sciences.

Tell your daughter to study well and if she loves a subject, to major in it so she can bring it to other Deaf people.

Anonymous said...

One of the coolest things I can do now as a Deaf mom (with bilaterla cochlear implants) of two Deaf college students, is to interpret events in the community for them, so we can all enjoy them without the constraints of the communication barrier and communication negotiation. A couple of weeks ago we went to a wildlife safari, and I was able to interpret the presentation about the cheetahs for my kids. We learned so many cool things about these wonderful animals! Peer to peer interpreting, especially in a family, is much more natural and spontaneous.

Michelle said...

If you google "certified deaf interpreter" you will find a lot of information on this subject. I do know someone that is deaf that does this. It takes a tremendous amount of skill with both ASL and the English language and it's a position that is hard to fill with truly qualified people. She should be able to find work doing this easily. :)

K.L. said...

Thanks for all your responses. She is a very curious kid, and is good in school. She is also very social. I really do see this as a great fit for her, if she continues to show an interest.

Anonymous said...

B.S.

Anonymous said...

As a hard-of-hearing person who signs very well, I would not dare to interpret. I know I'd miss something and that is simply unfair to the client. As far as educational interpreting, most states have evaluations that must be passed, either the EIPA or the ESSE-I or a local evaluation. The first two require the educational interpreters to listen and interpret from a video. Both the EIPA and the ESSE-I staff have told me that the hard of hearing test-takers (even with FM systems) are doing very poorly. The candidates SAY they can hear fine in the classroom, but when the rubber meets the road, they are failing miserably. Communication and education are too important to allow "good-enuf" to rule.

Miss Kat's Parents said...

If she can hear well enough to pass the test, GO FOR IT!!! If not, she can look into CDI.