Archives for August 2003

This originally appeared in The Tactile Mind Weekly in Trudy’s ON HAND column. This issue was a “topic issue” with articles answering this question: Interpreters: What is Their Place in Our Community?

Earlier this year when I was still living in Chicago, my mother and I had individual appointments with the same accountant. When we arrived at the accountant’s office, a woman greeted us, saying she was our interpreter. I looked at Mom with puzzlement. “Did you ask for an interpreter?” I asked, because we both didn’t want one for our appointments.

It turned out that the accountant had asked her friend from church to “sign” as a favor. The interpreter said that she interpreted at a local school “helping hearing-impaired children.”

Obviously unqualified in her choppy signing and poor receptive skills (and voicing throughout the entire conversation, even though there wasn’t anyone nearby that needed the voicing), I asked if she was certified.

The interpreter said with a defiant look on her face, “No, I am not.” That solved the situation. In Illinois, freelance interpreters are not to interpret without having successfully passed an evaluation (http://www.legis.state.il.us/legislation/ilcs/ch225/ch225act442.htm ), as prescribed by the state of Illinois (although there are quite a few loopholes in this act, which is currently being re-evaluated).

I reported it to the Illinois Deaf and Hard of Hearing Commission the next day. I had taken the appropriate steps in reporting her, and the interpreter was subsequently penalized for her illegal action, right?

Wrong.

In Illinois, interpreters working without certification are not penalized if they get caught. In fact, all the commission does is send them a warning letter, and that’s only if the commission knows where to find the interpreter. In this situation, the commission had only a first name, and no further information. The interpreter basically got away scot-free, and is still illegally interpreting for all I know.

How can we tell interpreters they are to go through training, certification processes, and much more, when deaf agencies or watchdog groups don’t even help enforce the law in many situations? How can interpreters know what their places in the deaf community are when there isn’t even a standardized concept among deaf people of what interpreters’ roles within the community are? How can Illinois deaf citizens assert their rights when the state commission doesn’t even enforce one of its own laws?

Before the deaf community starts assigning places and roles, we better get our act together.

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This originally appeared in The Tactile Mind Weekly in Trudy’s ON HAND column.

I sat in front of the stage, trying not to show how restless I felt.

I was one of three judges for a deaf state-level pageant, trying to endure a ballet performance given by one of the three contestants. We had just watched another contestant do a signed song with her eyes frozen to the floor.

Bored with the dancing, I reflected upon the weekend’s events. The interview process had been grueling–for the judges. Example: A contestant, who could barely sign, was asked what she had found most enjoyable about the pageant experience. She said with genuine awe, “Deaf people are sooooo friendly!” Never mind that she was deaf herself.

Last week, I wrote about how state association conferences aren’t so well attended anymore. This is also true for state pageants, which often have low contestant turnout or are cancelled. In fact, the 2000 Miss Deaf America pageant only had 25 contestants. Nowadays, we’re lucky if we have even two contestants at the state level.

Again, like with the state conferences, I’m not sure why participation is so weak. We could probably come up with a hundred reasons why, but the real question is what we can do to better represent our state associations (and ultimately the national association).

In 1993, members of the Maryland Association of the Deaf approved a resolution, proposed by Robert Weinstock and Astrid Goodstein, that would have changed the pageant structure. Instead of having young women strut their stuff on stage, a female and a male would be chosen to represent the state as “young ambassadors.” They could make presentations, work with legislators and various entities throughout the state, and then enter a national competition with their counterparts from other states.

When I first learned of this idea, I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. Unfortunately, this bill never made it through at the national convention, but I’m still convinced by this idea.

I’m convinced that having not one, but -two- representatives would command more attention from hearing legislators and community leaders. It’s hard to take someone seriously when she wins a contest based on how good her evening gown and talent presentations were.

The ambassadors would definitely bring an updated image to the state associations. And trust me, I’d enjoy the ambassador competition far more than ballet or signed songs.

Copyrighted material. This article can not be copied, reproduced, or redistributed without the written consent of the author.

This originally appeared in The Tactile Mind Weekly in Trudy’s ON HAND column.

Attendance has been disappointing at several state associations of the deaf conferences this year. A conference on Saturday in a state with one of the largest deaf populations had only 50 registered participants.

My (hearing) high school had a Junior Illinois Association of the Deaf chapter, and that’s how I came to really understand the importance of being involved. But guess how many of the 80-plus Jr. IAD members are involved with their state associations today?

One. Me.

Why aren’t people participating? The standard reason given by leaders seems to be, “Too many mainstreamed kids don’t know about or aren’t interested in deaf organizations.” Another common explanation is that people are busy doing their own things. Both reasons have merit, although I think we shouldn’t be quick to point fingers at mainstreaming because I don’t see too many deaf school graduates getting involved, either.

But I asked a few people why they weren’t members of their state associations or didn’t go to the conferences. One said, “Because nobody has asked me to join,” adding that he didn’t really know anyone involved with the association. Another said it was because she had tried to get involved, and felt rejected by the old-timers who thought she was too eager. Yet another said, “I got better things to do than deal with by-laws and boring workshops.”

Whatever the reasons are–we gotta do something.

We need to get off our arses and start figuring out a way to get people to realize the importance of being involved with state associations. I’m no expert on how we do this, but I know we have to do something.

Copyrighted material. This article can not be copied, reproduced, or redistributed without the written consent of the author.

This originally appeared in The Tactile Mind Weekly in Trudy’s ON HAND column.

When I gained 25 pounds my freshman year in college, a friend I hadn’t seen in a while said to me, “Wow you gain! Fat!” I smiled and nodded as if I didn’t care. Ten minutes later, I was bawling my eyes out in the privacy of my dorm room, humiliated by what I’d just been told.

Years later (and 20 pounds lighter), I brought this conversation up with the same friend to see if she remembered it. She was embarrassed and said, “But I was just being blunt– that’s Deaf culture!”

Is bluntness really a trait of Deaf culture?

Maybe you’ll disagree, but I don’t think saying how fat someone looks qualifies as being part of Deaf culture. That’s just being rude. I find it jarring when people new to the deaf community intentionally say something rude, and say gleefully, “That’s part of Deaf culture!”

Yet, do a search on the web using the words “deaf culture blunt,” and you’ll find page after page saying that being blunt is part of Deaf culture. I don’t know if I should buy it. Nor do I know if we should accept bluntness as being a trait of Deaf culture.

We all know deaf people are close-knit and more comfortable with each other where they can be more open and upfront about their thoughts. And of course, in ASL, the sign for “overweight” and “fat” is basically the same, much like “losing hair” and “bald” have the same sign. It’s easy to see how one could be more straightforward using ASL rather than if English was used. But where’s the fine line between being open and quick to comment, and being rude?

I’m a straightforward person by nature. But it’s not because I grew up in a Deaf family nor is it because I am culturally Deaf. It’s simply because that’s who I am. I think we need to tread carefully before attributing bluntness to being part of Deaf culture.

There’s a fine line between being rude and being straightforward. And we all need to find this fine line, regardless of whether we’re deaf or hearing.

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