"why would they use him and not just a hearing asl interpeter???"

Ambuhhlurr

Ambuhhlurr

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So recently my teacher became viral. During Hurricane Irma he was one of the ASL interpreter for one of the emergency conferences held by Governor Scott. He became know as the "Most animated interpreter" because he used body language and facial expressions while most interpreters don't. Some people felt he was joking around and trying to give humor to a crappy situation and many other thought he wasn't taking the situation seriously and found him to be disrespectful. Jimmy Kimmel actually had someone track him down because he wanted him on the show to sign his monologue. The problem though is that many people (it seems to be only those who are hearing/ do not understand the deaf community) think he is mocking deaf people. My teacher is a Certified Deaf Interpreter. He is completely deaf and teaching ASL and sharing deaf culture is his passion. He signed everything out the way he would. It seems like a lot of hearing people do not understand that ASL does not equal English. Not only is the grammar the completelt opposite, but it is also not a spoken language where you can use tone of voice and such. We use our body language and facial features to convey things.
My teacher was gotten a lot of love and a l pot of love and a lot pod hate for his interpretations. The biggest problem is the media neverentioned that he is actually deaf. And when people commented on the video that he was deaf, there were a ton of hearing people who said that they should just stick to hearing interpreters because they aren't "distracting".
I'm not saying there is anything wrong with hearing ASL interpreters, because they are talented and amazing as well, but why isn't there the same respect for deaf interpreters?
Will post link to videos in a comment below this in case anyone hasn't seen it and wants to or has a different opinion about this.
 
Since he is completely deaf, how did they have it setup for him to know what to sign when he was beside Governor Scott? It doesn't look like he could read lips from there.
 
Jane B. said:
Since he is completely deaf, how did they have it setup for him to know what to sign when he was beside Governor Scott? It doesn't look like he could read lips from there.
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Looks like the governor was reading s script, so maybe there was a telepromt for the interpreter
 
I think they ought to hire primary language signers who can do it that way for any emergency broadcast. They can get the message across easier. For a person with minimal knowledge of sign, severe hearing loss, and anxiety, it impresses the message better.
 
Usually, when working with a CDI, the path of interpretation is:

Hearing speaker > hearing interpreter > CDI > Deaf viewer

In a setting such as a press conference, the hearing interpreter would be seated in the front row of the audience, facing the speaker. The CDI sees the message as signed by the hearing interpreter, then interprets it for the Deaf viewers.
 
Jane B. said:
Since he is completely deaf, how did they have it setup for him to know what to sign when he was beside Governor Scott? It doesn't look like he could read lips from there.
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One of two possibilities-
1. there was a teleprompter there for him to keep pace with Gov Scott (live captioners...have seen this in action at one presentation where the speaker was deaf and his co-speaker (his SO too) was hearing and a certified interpreter).

[Edit- dang Reba got there first.. and brevity wins lol ;)]
2. There was a hearing interpreter off screen... doubt this was the situation but I HAVE seen this in action where the hearing interpreter is the 'main interpreter' and the CDI would interpret from that. One example is when I once had a Deaf professor and a classmate who is deafblind- her interpreter sometimes was a CDI. Same situation if the professor was new and did not sign well- hearing interpreter at front of class... CDI with deafblind. Still possible for a CDI to interpret for a general deaf audience too- works very well for a)deaf who are straight ASL, b) deaf whose language skills may not be the best and c) Deafblind- either close up or tactile.

I thought he was awesome! "stick to hearing interpreters because they aren't as distracting"? HM.. there's been a few hearing interpreters who have been just as animated as this man was!
 
LoveBlue said:
Looks like the governor was reading s script, so maybe there was a telepromt for the interpreter
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Teleprompters aren't reliable because the speaker may go off script. Also, there's usually a live Q&A time during pressers.

Sometimes terps get a copy of a prepared speech ahead of time, not to interpret from directly but to get familiarized with spellings of proper names or acronyms, or any other specialized vocabulary or unusual content.
 
Very rarely do we see hearing ASL interpreters signed with expressions and emotions. I think he might be CODA living with Deaf family. They do a lot of emotions and show expressions just like Deaf people do. This help us understand them doing their expressions. The first ASL interpreter for the hurricane was kind of lacking in both expressions and sign words. He was trying hard to find right sign words. I learned why he was put there is because there were not enough certified interpreters for the hurricane crisis. This is suppose to be for the people in Florida to know about the warning and how to find shelters or getting out of hurricanes. This is difficult for Deaf people trying to understand ASL interpreters. The Deaf people were desperated.
 
Bebonang said:
I think he might be CODA living with Deaf family. They do a lot of emotions and show expressions just like Deaf people do.
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He shows a lot of expressions and emotion just like a person who is deaf would, because he is also deaf...
They do not mention it in the videos or in the media, but I've been one of his students since January. I guarantee you he is completely deaf and not just a CODA.
 
Ambuhhlurr said:
He shows a lot of expressions and emotion just like a person who is deaf would, because he is also deaf...
They do not mention it in the videos or in the media, but I've been one of his students since January. I guarantee you he is completely deaf and not just a CODA.
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If you know him that well, do you know how he got the information of what to sign? Several different things have been suggested since my earlier question but no one knew for sure.
 
Remember Daniel Harris who was shot by North Carolina, officer Sanders few years ago, was his brother. His family are deaf. I agree, he sign very vivid.
 
Jane B. said:
If you know him that well, do you know how he got the information of what to sign? Several different things have been suggested since my earlier question but no one knew for sure.
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I haven't asked him, just like others stated it can be scripted, there could be a teleprompter, or there could be a hearing ASL translator translating to him what is being said. Another option that I'm not sure if it was mentioned or not is live captioning. When I have classes other than ASL or Online, my college pays someone to attend class with me and type out what is being said the whole time. Also, it could be a combination of any of those things. It's most likely one of those strategies, but because none of us were there we can't 100% say which one it was. Asking how it's possible for a deaf person to be an interpreter or suggesting they aren't really deaf is offensive even if you don't mean for it to be. If you still are confused about CDI's (Certified Deaf Interpreters) and how they are able to translate hearing to dead and want to learn more, I'm sure there are plenty of websites that may answer your questions. :)
Edit: The sites Reba stated May be very helpful for you.
 
I had already read of different ways it can be done. I just continued to be curious about which one had been used in this instance.
 
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