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Category Archives: Deaf Professionals

It Takes Two to Tango: Crafting a Flawless Partnership in the Corporate World — From Deaf Eyes on Interpreting

Posted on August 21, 2018 by Tom & Anna

DEOnIbookpageThis is the fifteenth weekly installment featuring highlights from the 20 chapters in the new book, Deaf Eyes on Interpreting, edited by Thomas K. Holcomb and David H. Smith which was released in June by Gallaudet University Press.

Sam Sepah holds a prominent position at Google as a Global Program Manager. He discusses the partnership between the increasing numbers of Deaf professionals, administrators and managers and their Designated Interpreters. Sepah draws a distinction between freelance interpreters who may randomly be assigned by an agency and “designated interpreters” who routinely work with the same Deaf clients 20-40 hours a week.

The title of this chapter, “It Takes Two to Tango,” reflects the author’s conviction that in order to create an effective partnership in the corporate culture, both the Deaf professional and the interpreter need to share their expectations, agree on communication strategies, provide each other with feedback, do their research and practice their moves, so they can work together as seamlessly as two dance partners.

 

 

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Posted in Deaf Eyes on Interpreting, Deaf Professionals, Designated Interpreters, videos from book contributors and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Hey Listen, Mainstreamed Deaf Children Deserve More! – From Deaf Eyes on Interpreting

Posted on August 15, 2018 by Tom & Anna

 

DEOnIbookpageThis is the fourteenth weekly installment featuring highlights from the 20 chapters in the new book, Deaf Eyes on Interpreting, edited by Thomas K. Holcomb and David H. Smith which was released in June by Gallaudet University Press.

Fallon Brizendine is a Deaf professional working to educate future interpreters. She expands on concerns raised by Amy June Rowley in our last blog post regarding placing novice interpreters in the pivotal role of working with Deaf children in mainstreamed schools. Whether they like it or not, without a critical mass of Deaf language models in their lives, the Deaf students will look to their interpreters as language models. This places a heavy responsibility on them.

However, Brizendine has some concrete ideas to remedy this situation. She suggests that interpreters be ready to take on this important role by visiting bilingual ASL/English classrooms and observing the bilingual teachers to see the manner in which they deliver lessons and interact with their students in ASL. She also puts responsibility on Deaf professionals who work in the educational field, such as herself, to connect with educational interpreters and offer them feedback and support.

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Posted in ASL, Deaf Education, Deaf Eyes on Interpreting, Deaf Professionals, Educational interpreting, interpreters, Mainstreamed settings, New book, Deaf Eyes on Interpreting and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

A Social Justice Framework for Interpreting — From Deaf Eyes on Interpreting

Posted on July 22, 2018 by Tom & Anna

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This is the eleventh installment featuring highlights from the 20 chapters in the new book, Deaf Eyes on Interpreting, edited by Thomas K. Holcomb and David H. Smith, which was recently released by Gallaudet University Press.

This chapter continues to explore the theme of interpreting issues related to Deaf academics. In their chapter, “Case Studies of International Conferences: A Social Justice Framework for Interpreting,” co-authors Patrick Boudreault and Genie Gertz provide an analysis of events that transpired at two international conferences. At both conferences, the Deaf people in attendance were frustrated with their limited access to participate in the conference proceedings. Because of this, they prepared formal documents outlining their concerns with the goal of identifying problem areas and solutions for increasing equality and access in future conference spaces. Using the social justice framework, Patrick and Genie examine these two documents with a focus on how interpreters can work closely together with Deaf people to ensure equality in multilingual spaces. They discuss the role and position of the interpreter, dynamics and power structures, and provide an action plan for getting interpreters to adopt a social justice framework.

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Posted in ASL, Deaf academics, Deaf Eyes on Interpreting, Deaf leaders, Deaf Professionals, interpreters, New book, Deaf Eyes on Interpreting, videos from book contributors and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Through the Eyes of Deaf Academics: Interpreting in the Context of Higher Education — From Deaf Eyes on Interpreting

Posted on July 15, 2018 by Tom & Anna

DEOnIbookpageThis is the tenth installment featuring highlights from the 20 chapters in the new book, Deaf Eyes on Interpreting, edited by Thomas K. Holcomb and David H. Smith, which was recently released by Gallaudet University Press.

Shifting the focus from the experiences of Deaf college students to Deaf professors, co-authors Dave Smith and Paul Ogden provide a close look at the expectations college faculty members have for their interpreters in order for them to successfully navigate the academic environment.

In this video clip, Dave Smith mentions several requirements for interpreting for Deaf professors in this environment where the focus is on supporting Deaf faculty members. Interpreters must possess an understanding of the wider context of higher education, including the specifics of the tenure and promotion process, the importance of collegiality, the critical need for appropriate register in voice interpretations, a feeling of trust between the professor and interpreter and even the vital role of the interpreter in picking up and relaying incidental information and office politics.

 

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Posted in Deaf academics, Deaf Eyes on Interpreting, Deaf Professionals, information sharing, interpreters, New book, New book, Deaf Eyes on Interpreting, videos from book contributors and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Higher Education: Higher Expectations and More Complex Roles for Interpreters — From Deaf Eyes on Interpreting

Posted on June 17, 2018 by Tom & Anna

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This is the ninth weekly installment featuring highlights from the 20 chapters in the new book, Deaf Eyes on Interpreting, edited by Thomas K. Holcomb and David H. Smith, which is scheduled to be released in June by Gallaudet University Press.

As an attorney, Tawny Holmes shares her perspective on legal issues related to access for Deaf college students in her chapter, “Higher Education: Higher Expectations and More Complex Roles for Interpreters.” Her goal is to empower future Deaf college students to thoroughly understand their legal rights so that they may receive appropriate services to support their education.

She discusses ways that students can self-advocate regarding the interpreters they will use to access their education. For example, she comments that even though it is nice to have a “certified” interpreter, it is better to have one who is well-versed in the major area of study. She recounts her own experience in law school, where the interpreters were not familiar with the legal terminology used in her classes. So she had to spend extra time preparing the interpreters in terms of vocabulary and sign choice.

 

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Posted in ASL, Deaf Eyes on Interpreting, Deaf Professionals, interpreters, New book, New book, Deaf Eyes on Interpreting, personal narratives, videos from book contributors and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Whose Reputation is at Stake? — From Deaf Eyes on Interpreting

Posted on June 3, 2018 by Tom & Anna

 

DEOnIbookpageThis is the seventh weekly installment featuring highlights from the 20 chapters in the new book, Deaf Eyes on Interpreting, edited by Thomas K. Holcomb and David H. Smith, which is scheduled to be released in June by Gallaudet University Press. This chapter, “Whose Reputation is at Stake?” was co-written by Tara Holcomb and Aracelia Aguilar.

As  Tara Holcomb describes in the video clip, this chapter stems from experiences that the two women had while attending a large professional training with participants from all over the country. Holcomb and Aguilar experienced frustration while trying to participate fully in this conference when they realized that they and the local interpreters hired to work with them had very different ideas about what constituted appropriate behavior. They explain the steps they took to take back the control of the situation so that they could present themselves as capable Deaf professionals that they are.

 

 

 

 

 

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Posted in ASL, Deaf Eyes on Interpreting, Deaf Professionals, interpreters, New book, New book, Deaf Eyes on Interpreting, personal narratives, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

The Heart of Interpreting from Deaf Perspectives — From Deaf Eyes on Interpreting

Posted on May 20, 2018 by Tom & Anna

DEOnIbookpageThis is the fifth weekly installment featuring highlights from the 20 chapters in the new book, Deaf Eyes on Interpreting, edited by Thomas K. Holcomb and David H. Smith which is scheduled to be released in June by Gallaudet University Press. This chapter, “The Heart of Interpreting from Deaf Perspectives” was written by Kim Kurz and Joseph Hill.

In the video above, Kim Kurz describes the motivation for conducting research with Deaf Professionals to discover their expectations and concerns regarding interpreters. Using qualitative and quantitative methods, they interviewed 10 Deaf professionals to identify what they would consider as “the heart of interpreting.” After analyzing their data, they found some common themes and concerns. These include:

1) A lack of bilingual skills (English and ASL) among interpreters  2) A less than effective use of fingerspelling to support the Deaf professionals  3) Skill in employing the elements of depiction in ASL, such as the use of space, classifiers, constructed action, and role shifting were found to be sorely lacking among many interpreters. These areas of concern, the authors feel, may be due to changes in the formation of interpreters from traditional cultural immersion to more emphasis on academic settings.

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Posted in Deaf Culture, Deaf Eyes on Interpreting, Deaf Professionals, New book, New book, Deaf Eyes on Interpreting, videos from book contributors and tagged , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.