I am in this situation OFTEN as a CSUN student, and now a terp. But as I was taught, and as just seems common sense to me, if a Deaf person is in the room, I sign.
/ Like Interpretrator said, if the Deaf people are not watching and active in the conversation, I let the signing go a little bit, but sign enough that if they looked over they could get the general idea, and it would show that they are WELCOME to join the conversation at any point. I don't interpret the hearing people speaking if a Deaf person isn't watching the conversation, but if they start to watch, and give me any indication that they want to know what the hearing person is saying through me, I will interpret.
/ I don't consider it a burden, I consider communication to be a RIGHT, not a privilege, and it is a RIGHT that many Deaf people are deprived of much of the time. It doesn't matter how pissed I am with Deaf friends, clients, etc, I will sign and I will interpret.
/ Sim-com/intepreting can become a bit of a hassle, but if I ever feel annoyed with it, I honestly feel annoyed with the hearing people because they could learn sign. I don't always interpret for hearing people or feel the need to speak because they have ACCESS to the language. They don't always know what's being said, but they could learn to understand it. I still do interpret the majority of the time, but I don't feel it as much a requirement as a courtesy.
ASLGAL said:
My question is "Why-Not"? I'm not sure I understand the significance of the original question.
Many, many, MANY, hearing people who know sign will choose, consciously or unconsciously to NOT use it in front of Deaf people. They either forget, consider it a burden, don't care, are pissed at a/the deaf people in the room, or something else...I am in situations like that all the time, and it is EXTREMELY uncomfortable for ME, can't imagine how the Deaf people in the room feel. Sometimes everyone in the room knows sign and still some hearing people, and deaf people who can speak/lipread, will choose not to sign. What do I do??? At that point I really feel it is up to the Deaf person to let other people know they want them to sign. If a Deaf person directly asks me to interpret I do, but that rarely happens. Instead the Deaf person will simply get left out when everyone in the room knows their language. The Deaf person keeps waiting for the other people to sign, or just puts up with being left out cuz they're used to it....I agree, Why not? But theory and practice are not always the same..