SWC December 2008 Newsletter

Back in early ’97 I joined the SWC and to this day, I can’t remember what precipitated that decision. I do recall asking Bob “Deafie” at the time if the Say What Club would have me, since I was hearing. I told him I was an ASL instructor and an interpreter for the deaf and thought I had something to offer his other members. I also explained how for both professions I needed to learn more about those who were hard of hearing or late deafened; from the description I read about this support club, I felt this was the perfect place to belong. He welcomed me graciously into the SWC family as a member of FORUM; and during the 11 years since, I feel I am an equal family member who contributes as much as I take.

Over the years I’ve accepted requests to participate in conferences as presenter, participant, and as interpreter. I was hired by SWC to interpret several cons: Chicago, St. Louis, Las Vegas and, the last, Philadelphia. Sometimes I worked for just the value of the hotel and registration and sometimes just for registration alone (depending on the club’s resources.) I never charged my normal conference rate (which included the above plus hourly fees) because in spite of having “…charge for your services” being one of the tenets of our Code of Ethics, SWC was also MY family. And since there was little request from members for an ASL ‘terp, and I would be interpreting for Walt anyway, I decided not to ask for reimbursement. It made me feel proud that I could contribute to the equal access to the information offered at the conferences and save MY club funds at the same time.

It has occurred to me that perhaps there would be some interest in learning exactly what it takes to call oneself an “interpreter”. Is it just knowing vocabulary and stringing those words together while hoping that the deaf signers could make sense of it all? Hardly! ASL (the cultural language of the Deaf) is a recognized world language... the 3rd most used language in America today (according to statistics compiled by Gallaudet University and others such as: http://www.deaflinx.com/ASL/ASL.html Here is a great website for more information on ASL interpreters: www.mass.gov/mcdhh/ Once there, you can click on one of 6 topic questions for their answers. I am listing 5 of those shown on that page

1. Can anyone who signs be an interpreter?

2. What is the difference between interpreting and transliterating?

3. What is the role of an interpreter?

4. Are there job opportunities for interpreters?

5. Can Deaf people become interpreters?

In my 20 plus years of interpreting (for fee and free) I have encountered clients who were happy...sad, frightened...confident, greeting new life... saying goodbye. Each situation I used all the knowledge I had acquired to equalize communication. Whatever the outcome of those encounters (most I never learned) I felt I had done the best I could and that my being involved in the process made a difference

A few outstanding interpreting situations:

· Conferences... especially the one where someone shouted from the audience, "Don't forget to thank the Closed Captions Lady!"

· Medical… Insuring a deaf mother and father full involvement in birth of new son,

· Funerals....Giving grieving children a chance to "talk" to family members about their beloved mother's life... they felt it was the first time they learned much inside information that was known by others all their lives,

· Socials...Allowing a deaf-blind man in his 50's equal celebration of his mom's 86th birthday,

· Theater... Missing the opportunity to be kissed by PAT BOONE by not wanting to forget I was there as interpreter...not participant. (Walt signed to me: "Blame self!")

· Counseling...Being the voice of a deaf man with CP, whose limited motor skills made reading his signs too difficult for many other interpreters and therefore delayed getting him the healing he so desperately needed,

· Courts...Working in a court criminal case with a young father, falsely accused of sexual assault by his own daughter out of revenge.... daughter later recanted but not before this man had lost his family, his marriage, his home and his job... not counting the $40,000 in legal fees.

· Agencies...Working with a young man facing two years of frustration with the social security office due to never being able to fully explain his case during the many past meetings... even though he said "I TOLD YOU BEFORE". (This ended favorably with thousands of dollars being excused.)

· Education... Enjoying the progress of a student who came to me with no measurable language (Sign nor English) and see the surprise on everyone's face when he achieved such success academically to be invited to join the Phi Thada Kappa Honor Society!

I love being the hands and voice of the Deaf... what other profession can bring such reward? I love both of my jobs of interpreting and teaching… sometimes I can’t tell where one stops and the other begins. Both are just extensions of who I am and how I perform in my favorite job (hobby?) of being married to a Deaf super guy, Walter. He is my teacher, my native language model, and my admission into the world of ASL and the Deaf Community. If I’m a good interpreter, it’s because he is my mirror. If I am the “communication bridge”, he is my main support beam.

Signingly yours, (my business name)

Brenda Dawe http://k2.kirtland.edu/~daweb