Forced to Voice

Don't wait at the last minute like i did when i had problems with my interpreter. call RID NOW! Because if you don't, they won't get rid of her, or him. You need to be able to build up that confidence and say: "I need an qualified interpreter. period. and if you aren't able to do that, we'll discuss this in court." If you have to threaten them, do it. There are some people who are afraid to do that, but we have to be able to stand up for ourselves, i mean in college, our parents aren't going to be able to fight for us because we're going to be adults now. I mean i'm currently 17 years old, and I had to litterally fight for my right when i had problems with my interpreter and when i did, my interpreter resigned, and i got what i needed--and wanted. So, don't be afraid to get a qualified interpreter, you deserve to have one. Plus, its under ADA law too. ADA law states that If they do not give you an qualified interpreter, its basically discriminating you. I've done my research. But I agree with everybody else here. DO.NOT.BE.AFRAID.

plus, screw the interpreter for telling you to voice for yourself. She is not you. You are You. Tell her no! or tell her to stop it. Being straight-forward would be better. Truth is, theres going to be a 50-50 chance that one of you is going to be hurt. Sometimes, hearing the criticize is going to hurt, but it will make you a better person, and that interpreter needs to learn a lesson too.
 
Beowulf said:
I am sorry for having doubted you. I should have given you the benefit of the doubt, not the negative aspect. I am known to be blunt at times but it was not my intention to hurt your feelings.
As for that "interpreter," stomp her, stomp her, stomp her! :lol:
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It's okay, I need to speak up more. I remember asking her was she certified. I went on to ask her why not. She said that she doesn't want to become certified because you would have to be strict. I think that she doesn't lack the skill to be certified actually. She said she likes to get involved with the students. So, if she was certified she'd have to leave and do strictly interpreting.lol THATS WHAT TERPS R SUPPOSED TO DO! lol :roll:
 
It amazes me schools these days will pick up anyone who knows sign enough. They could get the point across but they have nasty attitudes. I've seen more WE know more than the deaf people attitudes this year, than any year before. :shock::shock: Do I have a right to request them to hire a certified one? I have heard it's a hassle to pay terps in college. I guess I don't want to cause trouble. Most of the terps that I have met at this college weren't certified. They also were staff at school for office work as well. So it wasn't strictly for that purpose. I also think they need to know about the culture as well. I am amazed at some of the comments that I hear coming from a few terps.
 
coolgirlspyer90 said:
Don't wait at the last minute like i did when i had problems with my interpreter. call RID NOW! Because if you don't, they won't get rid of her, or him. You need to be able to build up that confidence and say: "I need an qualified interpreter. period. and if you aren't able to do that, we'll discuss this in court." If you have to threaten them, do it. There are some people who are afraid to do that, but we have to be able to stand up for ourselves, i mean in college, our parents aren't going to be able to fight for us because we're going to be adults now. I mean i'm currently 17 years old, and I had to litterally fight for my right when i had problems with my interpreter and when i did, my interpreter resigned, and i got what i needed--and wanted. So, don't be afraid to get a qualified interpreter, you deserve to have one. Plus, its under ADA law too. ADA law states that If they do not give you an qualified interpreter, its basically discriminating you. I've done my research. But I agree with everybody else here. DO.NOT.BE.AFRAID.


plus, screw the interpreter for telling you to voice for yourself. She is not you. You are You. Tell her no! or tell her to stop it. Being straight-forward would be better. Truth is, theres going to be a 50-50 chance that one of you is going to be hurt. Sometimes, hearing the criticize is going to hurt, but it will make you a better person, and that interpreter needs to learn a lesson too.
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WOW! well I felt like I was suffering in SILENCE..loL..Anyways I ned to work on my confidence. Yah I know they are human, but I have rights! :)
50/50 chance? I agree, what was ur situation? Was it the same?
 
Recover5302 said:
WOW! well I felt like I was suffering in SILENCE..loL..Anyways I ned to work on my confidence. Yah I know they are human, but I have rights! :)
50/50 chance? I agree, what was ur situation? Was it the same?
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Kind of, with my interpreter, she never signs, she yells at me and she always leaves and arrives late to and from my classes. Shes always texting, and complaining about her personal life, plus eating during my classes. But I had an IEP meeting with the school principal, the special education, and my parents before spring break started. They said to me, by surprise that my interpreter has resigned. Probably because she knew that she was going to get in trouble with the school. I currently have an interpreter (temporarily) until school is over so the school can find me a qualified interpreter over summer break. My interpreter whose working with me right now is one of my friend's mom who used to be an asl interpreter, I met her last year, their family moved from California to Ohio. She's really nice, and I'm trying to understand her because their ASL is different compared to mine.
But yeah, do what other people and what i said. Call RID, do not hesitate to call them.
 
Plus, people here on alldeaf.com has gave me advice when i was in that situation. It helped alot. What I did was i copied some of the comments from the thread and printed it out to show the school what they have said and what they need to know. Most mainstreaming schools does not know anything about our deaf rights and our deaf culture. And we need to teach them that. They may think they know everything about our culture, but truth is, they don't. So, we need to show them that. I'm not going to take their word about "not getting an qualified interpreter when you already have one", because they might say that, and i heard it a ton before. also in my situation, the school basically said that my interpreter and i was in a "sister" relationship kind of thing. heres the thing, she is not my sister. and i got sick of her so i had 2 choices, i was either going to suck it up, or fight against the school for not having a qualified interpreter for me. I picked fighting against the school. And i got what i needed.
 
Recover5302 said:
It's okay, I need to speak up more. I remember asking her was she certified. I went on to ask her why not. She said that she doesn't want to become certified because you would have to be strict. I think that she doesn't lack the skill to be certified actually. She said she likes to get involved with the students. So, if she was certified she'd have to leave and do strictly interpreting.lol THATS WHAT TERPS R SUPPOSED TO DO! lol :roll:
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Certified terps generally are paid more. So she turned down a pay raise.
 
coolgirlspyer90 said:
Don't wait at the last minute like i did when i had problems with my interpreter. call RID NOW! Because if you don't, they won't get rid of her, or him.
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Your advice is great except for this. RID can't do anything about uncertified interpreters. Certified terps are subject to RID sanction if they violate ethics. Uncertified terps are not. So because these aren't certified, RID can't do anything.
 
But yeah, I would demand a qualified terp ASAP...and yeah I'm sure she doesn't have the skills to be certified! I have only met a few terps who "didn't want" to be certified and they are mostly snobs without the skills to get certified anyway.

Keep in mind though, the ADA doesn't guarantee you a certified terp, it guarantees you a qualified terp. However, your terps are obviously not qualified. Refusing to use ASL? Demanding you speak? They both need to leave NOW. It doesn't matter what the school has to do to provide you with another one. They are REQUIRED to.

Can I ask where you're located? Like what is your college, or what is the nearest major city (and how far is it)?
 
Etoile said:
But yeah, I would demand a qualified terp ASAP...and yeah I'm sure she doesn't have the skills to be certified! I have only met a few terps who "didn't want" to be certified and they are mostly snobs without the skills to get certified anyway.

Keep in mind though, the ADA doesn't guarantee you a certified terp, it guarantees you a qualified terp. However, your terps are obviously not qualified. Refusing to use ASL? Demanding you speak? They both need to leave NOW. It doesn't matter what the school has to do to provide you with another one. They are REQUIRED to.

Can I ask where you're located? Like what is your college, or what is the nearest major city (and how far is it)?
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I know that the ADA law says qualified. But hearing from what shes saying, her interpreter is not qualified. so therefore, she can have ADA on her side. she deserves a qualified interpreter.
 
coolgirlspyer90 said:
I know that the ADA law says qualified. But hearing from what shes saying, her interpreter is not qualified. so therefore, she can have ADA on her side. she deserves a qualified interpreter.
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That's exactly what I said. :D
 
Recover5302 said:
What information would you like? I did try to hint around but she didn't pay attention. I guess straight foward is best.
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One thing that I've learned going through a college level interpreting program is that very few decisions in interpreting are black and white. I was just curious what reasons the interpreter had for making the choice she did. Was she being lazy? Did she think she was being genuinely helpful? Did she misunderstand you and think that you wanted to voice for yourself? Was she told by somebody that this is what you wanted?

I personally don't think her choice was the most effective based on the information you have provided, but without knowing all the factors, it's hard for me to say that she was straight-up wrong.

Still, something needs to be done about the situation, because things can't stay as they are. At the very least it sounds like she should receive some basic training in the role and responsibility of an interpreter.
 
Mountain Man said:
One thing that I've learned going through a college level interpreting program is that very few decisions in interpreting are black and white. I was just curious what reasons the interpreter had for making the choice she did. Was she being lazy? Did she think she was being genuinely helpful? Did she misunderstand you and think that you wanted to voice for yourself? Was she told by somebody that this is what you wanted?

I personally don't think her choice was the most effective based on the information you have provided, but without knowing all the factors, it's hard for me to say that she was straight-up wrong.

Still, something needs to be done about the situation, because things can't stay as they are. At the very least it sounds like she should receive some basic training in the role and responsibility of an interpreter.
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I've used interpreters in different settings, and only once did an interpreter tell me to use my voice. It was in a classroom with a couple other deaf students besides myself. I asked her why she wanted me to voice my questions to the professor, and she said it was because I should not be ashamed of my "beautiful" speech. I told her that I had reasons not to voice and that my consideration for the other two deafies (who had poor speech skills) was just part of it. She was very embarrassed and apologetic and I bet she never asked another deaf student to voice after that. Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES should an interpreter ask a deafie to voice. I am quite adamant about that.
 
There can be a million reasons for not voicing. The interpreter only needs to hear one: "I don't want to."

By the same token, of course, deaf people who do want to voice for themselves should be given the opportunity. However, that does not preclude the terp voicing as well.

I say this because I have encountered deaf people who thought they had intelligible speech, but the hearing person couldn't understand them. The hearing person asked the terp to please voice over the deaf person. Because the terp is there for the hearing person too...if the hearing person cannot understand the deaf person's speech, they have a right to request the terp to voice.

At no time should anybody be forced to use a modality they don't want to, whichever modality that is.
 
Beowulf said:
I've used interpreters in different settings, and only once did an interpreter tell me to use my voice. It was in a classroom with a couple other deaf students besides myself. I asked her why she wanted me to voice my questions to the professor, and she said it was because I should not be ashamed of my "beautiful" speech. I told her that I had reasons not to voice and that my consideration for the other two deafies (who had poor speech skills) was just part of it. She was very embarrassed and apologetic and I bet she never asked another deaf student to voice after that. Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES should an interpreter ask a deafie to voice. I am quite adamant about that.
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I think this situation best fits what she was trying to do. BUT I AM THE ONLY deaf in the class lol. I don't know why everyone is telling me I'm not telling the whole story and doubting it. :( I am telling what happened to the best of my ability. I never want to hurt anyone so maybe thats why I didn't speak up. I told her the second day that I pefer not to voice. When I would ask questions that were directed at the teacher, she would say ask for yourself. When I wouldn't ask, she would get upset.
 
Etoile said:
There can be a million reasons for not voicing. The interpreter only needs to hear one: "I don't want to."

By the same token, of course, deaf people who do want to voice for themselves should be given the opportunity. However, that does not preclude the terp voicing as well.

I say this because I have encountered deaf people who thought they had intelligible speech, but the hearing person couldn't understand them. The hearing person asked the terp to please voice over the deaf person. Because the terp is there for the hearing person too...if the hearing person cannot understand the deaf person's speech, they have a right to request the terp to voice.

At no time should anybody be forced to use a modality they don't want to, whichever modality that is.
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That makes sense. I remember one time I tried to ask a question to the teacher myself because she didn't voice for me and the teacher looked at her and told her to tell her what I said! The teacher was like "i dont understand you" THAT should have given her a clue anyway and I told her once.
 
Mountain Man said:
One thing that I've learned going through a college level interpreting program is that very few decisions in interpreting are black and white. I was just curious what reasons the interpreter had for making the choice she did. Was she being lazy? Did she think she was being genuinely helpful? Did she misunderstand you and think that you wanted to voice for yourself? Was she told by somebody that this is what you wanted?

I personally don't think her choice was the most effective based on the information you have provided, but without knowing all the factors, it's hard for me to say that she was straight-up wrong.

Still, something needs to be done about the situation, because things can't stay as they are. At the very least it sounds like she should receive some basic training in the role and responsibility of an interpreter.
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You're an interpreter? cool! Well why is it that many interpreters can sign but they don't know much about Deaf culture? I AM SAYING SOME..NOT ALL
Is that part of the interpreting program?
 
I think it's funny the other interpreter voices everything for me in one of my classes. So this was amazing how the other one automatically forced me too? I guess you all are right. Different opinions for different terps. She automatically voiced for me. She didnt assume and she told me that she hangs with deaf and hard of hearing. Maybe it's just experience and awareness that is needed. Maybe hearing aids can be a throw off that ONE doesn't need an interpreter. I saw that happen to many of my friends. Especially those with CI's Maybe the ability to voice is a throw off as well. Even if it isn't perfect. And maybe advocating for yourself can be mixed with misunderstanding by terps. Thats alot to think about. Many many possiblities. ..oh well "Sigh"
 
Recover5302 said:
You're an interpreter? cool!
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Interpreter in training, actually. I hope to graduate this fall.

Recover5302 said:
Well why is it that many interpreters can sign but they don't know much about Deaf culture? I AM SAYING SOME..NOT ALL
Is that part of the interpreting program?
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It depends on how they became an interpreter and what qualifications they have. Understand that not everyone who calls them self an interpreter has received formal training or is even aware that such training is necessary to be an effective interpreter. The program I'm attending emphasizes an understanding of Deaf culture and encourages interaction with the local Deaf community as well as extensive study of ethical decision making.

Then, of course, there are those who have received such training and still conduct themselves poorly because, well, some people are just jerks.
 
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