Thoughts on an unique experience with a Coda interpreter.

Duration - 4:14

*****
For bonus video content, visit my Patreon at patreon.com/adrean or subscribe to the free email newsletter at Link !

*****
English version:

I recently made a call through VRS and noticed something special about the interpreter during the process. After completing the call, I asked the interpreter if they had a Deaf family. They said yes. That struck me as interesting. How did I catch this aspect of their identity?

I thought about what I saw, how the interpreter had grammatically correct facial expressions, clear handshapes, and a relaxed speaking stance. It felt as if I had met their parents, that perhaps their family is one in which communication springs from mutual respect.

It’s commonly said that families share a similarity, whether it is in their looks or their manners. Children imprint on their role models as they grow within families. For the ASL Deaf community, it’s a little different. Many Deaf children are mainstreamed, which means their language role models are educational interpreters, who in turn acquire from interpreter training programs. Those interpreters, regardless of their instructors, still spend the majority of their time mingling with other hearing students. They develop a hearing accent to their ASL.

I thought about the Coda interpreter, how they learned ASL through their family’s love. Nowadays in the artificial environment of interpreter training programs, the emphasis is on mass-producing interpreters as quickly as possible. It is a capitalist system built around commerce.

It may be shocking to say so, but I actually do not want interpreters. It’s not the interpreters themselves that are the problem, but society’s insistence that they are the solution to what amounts to a lack of empathy. If I go to see a doctor or other life-impacting appointments, there is always a third party involved. In those situations I am always thinking about the people I am interacting with AND the interpreter.

What I truly want is a direct connection with the people I interact on a daily basis. A greater signing community. What if interpreter training programs were transformed to emphasize the growth of community? What if we could profit from compassion and empathy in connecting through ASL?

What do you all think?

*****
Facebook link:
Link

*****
Please support my work at:
Link

*****
Curious about written ASL?
Link

*****
Keep in touch!
WEBSITE: Link
TWITTER: Link
FACEBOOK: Link
INSTAGRAM: Link