Blind Interpreter

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typeingtornado19

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I was wondering, I am enrolled in the ASL program in college and one day i aspire to do sign language interpreting. But I am legally blind, i see a little but not much. If i was as good as my sighted counterpart would you hire me as an interpreter?
 
Mod's Note - The thread is moved to it's proper location. :)
 
Touchy subject. How would a blind interrupter, I mean interpreter reverse interpret for the client....for example, if a deaf student asks questions of the professor in the classroom, how does the information get exchanged? There are probably any number of situations that would confound/present a problem for information exchange. Maybe there are others here on this board who could enlighten us...
 
the way we do it in class right now is the teacher stands within a certain distance or the person could sign into my hand.
 
I dont see why not if you posses the skills, qualification, professionalism, and motivation. Go for it!
 
Depends on your degree of blindness and your capablities of being able to interpret what I am signing and your signing skills :)

One of my old boss was considered "legal blind" and he was/still is able to drive. I forgot why he was considered legal blind it had something to do with white and yellow papers something like that. Forgotten that he was legal blind so many times.
 
Kai Onca said:
Depends on your degree of blindness and your capablities of being able to interpret what I am signing and your signing skills :)

One of my old boss was considered "legal blind" and he was/still is able to drive. I forgot why he was considered legal blind it had something to do with white and yellow papers something like that. Forgotten that he was legal blind so many times.
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Do you mean color blind when they could not get all the regular colors in their brain with the iris? It is common for people who are color blind when they see one or two certain colors. For example, if a person see red only and none on other colors, then the person will have a problem going across the traffic lights which produce red light and would that help the person stop right in the corner of the sidewalk. Maybe not. I also wonder if people wear wild colors clothes that don't match and could be color blind. Are you saying that your boss only could see white and yellow on the legal papers, but could not tell difference there are other papers that are pink or green or blue which was not there for him?

Hjones, if you are determine to become a interpreter for the Deaf and Blind, then go for it. But if you want to interpret for the Deaf only, then it is a challenging career for you and hope that Deaf people can have the time to talk to you in signs on your hands, if they can not talk in voice. We, Deafies and HOH, have never had any experiences connecting with the blind interpreter. So good luck and hope you have a good experience working with them both (Deaf and Blind and Deaf only). Good luck. :D
 
thank you all for your input. I can see enough that if the person is wearing the right colors and we are close to each other i can see. thank you.
 
Bebonang said:
Do you mean color blind when they could not get all the regular colors in their brain with the iris? It is common for people who are color blind when they see one or two certain colors. For example, if a person see red only and none on other colors, then the person will have a problem going across the traffic lights which produce red light and would that help the person stop right in the corner of the sidewalk. Maybe not. I also wonder if people wear wild colors clothes that don't match and could be color blind. Are you saying that your boss only could see white and yellow on the legal papers, but could not tell difference there are other papers that are pink or green or blue which was not there for him?

Hjones, if you are determine to become a interpreter for the Deaf and Blind, then go for it. But if you want to interpret for the Deaf only, then it is a challenging career for you and hope that Deaf people can have the time to talk to you in signs on your hands, if they can not talk in voice. We, Deafies and HOH, have never had any experiences connecting with the blind interpreter. So good luck and hope you have a good experience working with them both (Deaf and Blind and Deaf only). Good luck. :D
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Ithink it would require a collaboration btw the blind terp and the deaf client to make it successful for both. I think it can be done with open-mindness.
 
Ok, so, I'm offering this from the perspective of a deafblind person.

Go ahead and interpret.

But seriously evaluate working with SIGHTED deaf clients. Tactile signing is slower and requires more repetition.. which may frustrate your sighted client. Don't depend on your sight 'maybe' working- because maybe is never enough. you can't ask a client to put on different clothing if they have olive skin and are wearing a brown shirt, ect.

Also realize that almost all deaf people I've met are uncomfortable around blindness- many to the extent of being discriminatory about that. It sucks, but it's life- MANY deaf people will think you are incapable of the work and make it perfectly clear.

That said.. deafblind folks! Using tactile means is natural, or at least acceptable, to more deafblind people. This is just me, but I think deafblind interpreting would be a MUCH better fit for a blind terp- because it cuts through stereotypes and frustrations.
 
thank you very much, but why is it that deaf people would discriminate? I dont understand that at all. But deaf blind interpreting sounds good too. i would like to do both.
 
I would hesitate to embrace “…almost all deaf people would discriminate…” statement made in a previous post. I have spoken with deaf-blind people and it is no big deal. If you are able to interpret and read my signs (either visually or tactually), then I would have no problems using your services.
 
Almyra said:
I would hesitate to embrace “…almost all deaf people would discriminate…” statement made in a previous post. I have spoken with deaf-blind people and it is no big deal. If you are able to interpret and read my signs (either visually or tactually), then I would have no problems using your services.
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You misread me. "Also realize that almost all deaf people I've met are uncomfortable around blindness- many to the extent of being discriminatory about that."

Yes, there are exceptions. But the 'uncomfortable around blindness' group makes an overwhelming majority. I've been to events with 500+ culturally Deaf people in which absolutely nobody would sign with me, ignoring that I was signing, and speaking at me.
 
Honestly I think many deaf people are afraid of blind people, because they feel they cannot communicate with them. If the blind person knew ASL and could receive tactile sign, they would be less afraid.

But really I don't know how well this would work. Interpreting is not just about hearing, in many situations sight is required too, especially for prep work. Some examples of situations:
  • Medical appointment - you need to be able to see what the doctor is doing to the patient in order to interpret. Or if they point to a chart, you would want to be able to reference what they're pointing to.
  • Corporate meeting - these go around the room very fast, people speak over each other all the time, and you need to be able to visually identify who is speaking so you can point at them. Pointing in their direction is sometimes good enough, but sometimes you need to be specific. If you can't see who's speaking, you might have a hard time with this.
  • Anything involving a powerpoint - Lots of information that an interpreter needs to know is shown on powerpoint displays. Name spellings, organization names, key words, etc. You may not always get a copy of the powerpoint slides beforehand. This is why the Interpreter Mirror was invented - so terps could see what was on powerpoint slides or blackboards without having to turn around all the time. (Unfortunately it never took off, I only used one once.)
  • Computer training - sometimes you will get to see either the instructor's screen or the client's screen. This is VERY helpful because then when the instructor says "now click on the box that says start" you can use spatial parts of ASL to clarify which box is intended.
These are just a few examples of when sight would be needed. However, there are also many situations when perfect sight would NOT be needed. A lecture with no charts being shown, one-on-one interactions (most of the time), etc.

So I think it is possible for a hearing blind person to be a terp, but you would have to pick and choose assignments carefully. Mentoring is a good way to see a variety of assignments and determine if you could work in them - you will get to observe an experienced interpreter and figure out if they need to see in any given situation.
 
Etoile said:
Honestly I think many deaf people are afraid of blind people, because they feel they cannot communicate with them. If the blind person knew ASL and could receive tactile sign, they would be less afraid.

But really I don't know how well this would work. Interpreting is not just about hearing, in many situations sight is required too, especially for prep work. Some examples of situations:
  • Medical appointment - you need to be able to see what the doctor is doing to the patient in order to interpret. Or if they point to a chart, you would want to be able to reference what they're pointing to.
  • Corporate meeting - these go around the room very fast, people speak over each other all the time, and you need to be able to visually identify who is speaking so you can point at them. Pointing in their direction is sometimes good enough, but sometimes you need to be specific. If you can't see who's speaking, you might have a hard time with this.
  • Anything involving a powerpoint - Lots of information that an interpreter needs to know is shown on powerpoint displays. Name spellings, organization names, key words, etc. You may not always get a copy of the powerpoint slides beforehand. This is why the Interpreter Mirror was invented - so terps could see what was on powerpoint slides or blackboards without having to turn around all the time. (Unfortunately it never took off, I only used one once.)
  • Computer training - sometimes you will get to see either the instructor's screen or the client's screen. This is VERY helpful because then when the instructor says "now click on the box that says start" you can use spatial parts of ASL to clarify which box is intended.
These are just a few examples of when sight would be needed. However, there are also many situations when perfect sight would NOT be needed. A lecture with no charts being shown, one-on-one interactions (most of the time), etc.

So I think it is possible for a hearing blind person to be a terp, but you would have to pick and choose assignments carefully. Mentoring is a good way to see a variety of assignments and determine if you could work in them - you will get to observe an experienced interpreter and figure out if they need to see in any given situation.
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wow, as to the doctor appointment part doctors usually say "and now im going to..." powerpoints are no problem as long as it isnt horribly far away, computers are also no problem i can modify that easily, as to the meeting you can point to the person using voice as a refrence point. im pretty good at that one.
 
ps. why be scared, you probably dont know braille or how to use a cane or understand why i use one, but im not scared?
 
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