question about interpreter

I agree that terp shouldn't critize deafie's ASL skill.... I and terp always have discussion on how to sign for "__________" they learn from me.. such as Bemedji, MN is "B" on nose, you know like boring... Some of terp like mine at school spell words but I told her theres sign for that word so she said oh ok.. Some ppl who learn ASL ask me how to sign words.. last weekend I met some student senators who are taking ASL or know some or fingerspelling, so I help them instead of critize them. They said oh now I remember or oh its new for me!!!
 
i didn't grow up deaf, so i'm still learning a lot about ASL and some of what i learn comes from the terps that i meet at different events. usually though, i double check the signs with my Deaf tutor at school so that I know whether or not it's correct in the Deaf community.

i definitely agree that the terp in this situation did not handle the situation at all well. but i'm curious...how is your girlfriend going about solving the problem? does she have a different interpreter now? as far as my own experience (which i admit is very limited) is concerned, most terps will (and should) adjust to the style of the person they are translating for.

hope things are better for your girlfriend though and that something is being done...otherwise, the terp might assume it's ok for her to do that all the time.
 
Suing isn't a resoultion a request for another interperter is better, and i myself is an pending certified Deaf Interperter and i know its under the code of ethics to respect boundries as a interper's professional job and not to criticize anyone's signs. that interp should get a repremand and contact the agency hired her for her interp needs and request another interperter. simple said simple done. that will teach the other interp a lesson abt crossing the lines.
 
Thats really not cool. That terp doesn't realise that ASL is a fluid language, its changing all the time. Its also different wherever you go. My deafie cousin from CA came to Minnesota and he told me that we sign oldly here. (?!) Apparently we in minnesota are just old fashioned. back to subject though... Terp definetly going across the line with correcting signs.
 
No way... An interpreter can't tell u what to do or change your own signs. No way.. she doing wrong.. Pls report her boss about her poor job so they can give her "friendly warning" In my experience, it is never happen to me but mostly of them will ask nice and say it again which they might never see my signs before. I will do again and she or he will tell to Hearing person what i say and She or he will tell him/her Go ahead to talk. Sometime before Meeting, An Interpreter will ask me if I prefer ASL, English, or SEE so i let her or him know.

Next time dont bring her along again and have ur report to her Boss about your complain.
Mommyof3
 
Another Suggestions for u, Daniel

I suggest few things for you:

1. U get know about an interpreter and feel so comfortable with her or him. Like her or his background and skills of signs such as ASL or English. Her or his professional job and communication with you.

2. Ask her or him about business card for yourself to keep for your next appointment or meeting. Sometime An interpreter will pass you few more business cards if you meet Dr or Whoever and give that person to have them call an interpreter. Also sometime u dont have to say but your choice to inform them that You want for example: Jane Smith an interpreter to be there for you. So they will know you feel comfortable and easy fast way to give out of her name and phone number than have them call Interpreter Service. Sometime it is Con for deaf ppls like they dont know who will be interpreter for you @ DR or meeting. U will find that you are not happy or not comfortable with her for reason like lousy signs, not nice person or whatever. Pro is You meet many interpreters as much you want and get know them which you might like her or him come in next time as you have her business card.

3. You will give out your time and date that you are opening during week. For example: My time will be open for M-8 am to 10 am T-Work W-9 am to 11 am etc. So Dr or Meeting Rep will know your opening and will give An interpreter that you are opening so she or he will look her or his time to match. So they will give you a call back to confirm appt. Con is If you dont let them know about your openings which might an interpreter wont able to come in to be there so Rep will call u back then u might change your time and date then Rep call back to Interpreter to make confirm the date and time. Waste time for Call back and Back again. Pro is U give out your date and time for your openings so Rep will know your openings. It is fast way and save Time.

4. Sometime u can ask Interpreter to see if she or he will available for you anytime such as Hosptial after hours or Other Reasons. She or he will tell u Fine with her so you will know that Interpreter can come in for you. Sometime she or he will say No to you cuz of Family, Limited Hours, or whatever Reasons. Con is Hosptial sometime won't call an interpreter for you cuz it is last min to walk in or go in ER or don't know any of names with Interpreter to contact. Waste time. Pro is you have her or his name on business card and pass to Nurse so she can call interpreter to come in as fast service.

5. Sometime you can ask your interpreter to get his or her boss name and phone number IF He or She know alot about ADA or Complain from DR or Interpreter service for lousy job, rude or whatever reasons. So you wont have to ask around or wonder who to contact with.

6. Get local interpreter to get easy to drive to appointment at dr or meetings cuz it will make you feel less waiting too long in wait room. Long Distance interpreter is more harder cuz long drive, cost mileage, cost hourly and won't make time in your reasons as ER @ Hosptial or whatever.

I hope that is help information with you and your g/f as next time! :)
 
Hmmm, this thread reminds me of something that happened few weeks ago.

There was terp who asked me what one of my signs meant, so I told her, and she said that's wrong - just like terp did to the girlfriend mentioned in this thread. I said no it's not it's just different one. She told me I should only use the most common one for that word, so people understand easy. I told her no, I am always happy to teach people the sign I use if they don't already know it, but I won't use the other one, even though I know it too, because it is offensive for me personally because it is disrespectful to some of my family. She rolled her eyes & ask "why???" So I explain that sign she used is more commonly used still, but is old sign. The word was 'Jewish', you see, and some of my family get very hurt seeing and knowing that old sign in NZSL for Jew is mimick of hooked nose stereotype. She understand then, and was happy to use my sign with me, for respect. So I thank her for that, but firstly she was really rude and told me I was wrong to sign different from most common used sign, until I persisted in explaining why. If I didn't keep trying to get my point across like that, then she wouldn't have realised why it was important and would have thought it was ok for her to chastise me on using the sign that is appropriate for that meaning within my community just because she didn't know it before meeting me.

She said that she always thoguht that Deaf not care about PC much, or if a sign looks offensive or not, and that she read that Deaf think change of ethnic or religious signs that were offensive is not needed. I told her some Deaf probably might think so, sure, and that's ok for them, but we are just like everybody else and most don't like to knowingly hurt people either, so I just personally prefer to use sign that isn't hurtful or a sensitive issue for people I love. She said she never thought of it like that!?!?! :crazy:

I think if a terp behaves like this, it is important to persist in making it firm that we have right to use our signs, not only ones they are most familar with. If it is done politely but clearly, then they usually get the message, and it's ok. In the end she thanked me, but it took some explaining first for her to turn around on that opinion!
 
HoneyShot,

Wow, that was a bad attitude terp. You handled the situation very well, very patiently, and very firmly. Good for you!

The terp was off-base. Even if the rest of the Deaf community in your area uses a different sign, she should accept that YOU use a sign that is acceptable for you, and she should adapt to that.

Terps have to adapt their signs for different clients all the time. Terps have to be flexible. I have interpreted for clients that are different ages, from different states, different educational backgrounds, different ethnic groups, so they have various signs. Sometimes it is hard to remember who uses what, but the client usually reminds me, then no problem. I never tell a Deaf client, "that is a wrong sign", or "that is an old sign". Sometimes I will show someone a new sign and ask, "have you seen this sign before?" or "which sign do you prefer?"

The terp was wrong to tell you to use the sign that is common to the community. If other Deaf in your community have a problem about your signs, it is up to them to complain to you, not the terp's responsibility.
 
I learned sign language late in life (28 yrs old) and still use PSE as its more comfortable for me ~ I have been lucky that my deaf school friends have accepted me as I am.

Now, many terps know who I am because of my involvment in the StL Deaf Community and also because of my Missouri Deaf Calendar listserve, and it's fairly easy to go from there. However, when I encounter a new interpreter, I try to do a little chatting before hand and let him/her know that I have a heavy country drawl and tend to drop my 'S. I also let the terp know I'm more comfortable with total "PSE" interpreting (both PSE and oral interpreting). Since I'm taking Accounting classes, we have had to 'invent' new signs for some terms that do not have their own signs, and they're more like 'home signs.'

In my whole time since learning PSE, I've only had two bad interpreters ... one was so woodenfaced...no emotion, no flicker of interest, nothing. It was like trying to watch a brick wall...*snore*. Told the terp agency no more, thank you.

The 2nd one...was a nightmare. She insisted on using pure ASL with no oral interpreting, and she would'nt even listen to the suggestion of using 'home signs' ... it had to be in ASL or NOTHING. It was the only class I've ever had to withdraw from, as I fell far behind and I did complain to the agency about this every and each single time, and they kept sending her anyway! Of course, I lost money on this class and I can't really affored to lose more than $200.00. Only time Ive ever had a pblm with a class because of an interpreter!! The ACCESS office knows I will not deal with the agency that send that terp over, and they will use two other agencies that are located in StL...thank goodness we have FOUR agencies!

So, I do empathize with your girlfriend, asl learner. Hope she was able to find a better interpreter.
 
Geeze, you'd think interpreters would be smarter than this. I mean, so what, ASL has multiple signs for the same thing. It's not like English doesn't have multiple words for the same thing.

If this same interpreter came from MA are they going to ask us 'hearies' to change "shake" to "frap", "sub" to "grinder", or "soda" to "pop"?
 
Gobae said:
Geeze, you'd think interpreters would be smarter than this. I mean, so what, ASL has multiple signs for the same thing. It's not like English doesn't have multiple words for the same thing.

If this same interpreter came from MA are they going to ask us 'hearies' to change "shake" to "frap", "sub" to "grinder", or "soda" to "pop"?
Click to expand...
Good points.

I am a "grinder and soda" person married to a "blimpies and pop" person, and we live in a "sub and Coke-Cola (not Coca-cola)" state, so I know exactly what you are talking about. :)

Sign flexibility for terps is important. In just one day I might sign "truck" four different ways, depending on the client's preference. Go with the flow!
 
Reba said:
HoneyShot,

Wow, that was a bad attitude terp. You handled the situation very well, very patiently, and very firmly. Good for you!

The terp was off-base. Even if the rest of the Deaf community in your area uses a different sign, she should accept that YOU use a sign that is acceptable for you, and she should adapt to that.

Terps have to adapt their signs for different clients all the time. Terps have to be flexible. I have interpreted for clients that are different ages, from different states, different educational backgrounds, different ethnic groups, so they have various signs. Sometimes it is hard to remember who uses what, but the client usually reminds me, then no problem. I never tell a Deaf client, "that is a wrong sign", or "that is an old sign". Sometimes I will show someone a new sign and ask, "have you seen this sign before?" or "which sign do you prefer?"

The terp was wrong to tell you to use the sign that is common to the community. If other Deaf in your community have a problem about your signs, it is up to them to complain to you, not the terp's responsibility.
Click to expand...


Thanks Reba. :)

The one she used was more common for overall in this country, but most Deaf in my community use same sign as me, though I think many of them maybe learned it from me or my family using it. So they don't have any problems with it at all, it was just her finding the shock that she doesn't know everything! :lol: The sign I prefer is used many places here and overseas including in Israel, so it's not like it's only me that use it. Other Deaf who have contact with Jewish people here (in New Zealand) use same sign, she was just wanting me to use what many other people still use if they don't know of different signs or that the other one is hurtful to some people. She was new to town from bigger city and thought she knows best because of that. Using that old sign which is officially meant to be try to phase out here, is like calling somone a slur. So I felt I needed to speak up about it, so I was very glad that she understood and appologised in the end and learn something new. :)
 
There are different ways of signiing a word. Sometimes there are like 5 different signs for one word. Everyone has their own style of signing.
 
I'm an interpreter myself

Hi Daniel,
I've known sign langauge now for 30 yrs, and I'm also do interpreting too.
No one has the right to correct your girlfriends signs.
If she doesn't know a sign then she can ask the deaf person to show her the sign.
Its always good to learn signs, and the deaf are the best to learn from.
Tell your girlfriend to "Keep on Truckin"!!
LOL
Margie
 
I like Gobae's answer about hearies not correcting "soda or pop" and things like that. I'm a terp. ASL is not my first language, but it is my deaf friend's language. I have no more right to correct her sign than I would to correct a Frenchman's French. :)
 
I am a 'hearie' but from what I have learned, I have been told not to question deaf on their signs. It is your language, we 'hearies' cannot say what is right and what is not.
 
Reba said:
The interpreter should not correct a Deaf person's signs. If it is a sign that the terp doesn't know, or if the terp uses a different sign, the two of them should have a polite discussion to find understanding. The terp could say, "That is a new sign for me. I usually use this other sign for that concept. Can you please show me again, and give me some sentence examples how to use it? I will try to remember to use your preferred sign next time. Thank you for showing me something new."

The terp can use that Deaf's sign for that person. The terp can use other signs for other Deafs, if they prefer. There is much variation in signs, depending on regions, person's age, formal or casual, etc. Terps need to be flexible.

I am a terp, and I learn something new every day!
Click to expand...

:gpost:

A big amen to that! I am a relatively new interpreter, but my hubbie is Deaf and I would never correct him or any of our friends, let alone a consumer! What nerve! Hubbie and I were discussing this issue today ( before I read this post) and I told him that is like going to a foreign country and correcting the native speakers!

Kelly
 
The only time I might change a sign from what my client prefers is if it's going to be a big strain on me while interpreting. I can't think of a specific example, but I remember one time when my client preferred me to use a fingerspelled loan sign for something that was going to be said constantly during a lecture, and so I indicated that I would prefer to use another sign, which was just going to be less stress on my hand during an hour and a half of interpreting by myself.

The client was fine with it. But of course I didn't tell them that their sign was WRONG, just that I was going to use a different one. I think that's about the extent of what an interpreter should do; it's one thing to say "Oh, I've always seen that signed differently" than "That sign is WRONG." My limited experience gives me no right to correct someone...even if they are, for example, using the sign FLOWER to mean the word "flour." If that's what they want, that's what they get.
 
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