Page 163 - Reading Between the Sign Intercultural Communication for Sign Language Interpreters

148 Reading Between the Signs

In the book Mother Father Deaf, author Paul Preston, himself a
child of Deaf parents, examines the past and present impact that
having Deaf parents had on the 150 informants he interviewed.
Almost all of these now grown children remember interpreting
for their parents in encounters with the hearing world. Asked about
which behaviors and skills constituted these childhood interpret-
ing tasks, his informants mentioned the following: “helping,” “con-
necting,” “mediating,” “bridging,” and “caretaking” (Preston 1994).
Is this what Deaf consumers want and expect from “profes-
sional” interpreters today? Many Deaf people desire to be in con-
trol of their own lives and do not want interpreters to make deci-
sions for them. On the other hand, the complete rejection of the
helper model may not take cultural habits and preferences into
account.
In her telecourse entitled “The Socio-Political Context of Inter-
preting as Mediation,” esteemed interpreter and educator Anna
Witter-Merithew interviews several Deaf consumers of interpret-
ing services regarding the qualities they most value in an inter-
preter. They confirm the conviction that “a good attitude” is of
number one importance. One of the Deaf consumers, Larry Smolik,
says that he has seen many Deaf people express a preference for
interpreters who have only adequate signing skills but possess a
good attitude over those who have exemplary signing skills but
an inappropriate attitude. Elements that constitute an interpreter’s
good attitude include sensitivity to cultural norms, such as mak-
ing sure there is enough time to talk with the consumer before
and after the assignment, clear communication, honesty regard-
ing one’s skills and limitations, adherence to the RID Code of Eth-
ics, and a friendly, personable rapport with the Deaf consumer
(Witter-Merithew 1996).
In another example that supports the same point, the head of
the special services division of a leading university recently sur-
veyed the Deaf students a few weeks after the beginning of the
semester to assess if they were satisfied with the interpreting ser-
vices they had received thus far. Not one student mentioned any-
thing about the skills of their interpreters. Instead they focused on
how “friendly” and “helpful” they had been.
Articles and letters to the editor written by Deaf consumers
often reveal their feelings, complaints, and preferences when it
comes to interpreters. One article, which appeared in the March

06 MINDESS PMKR 148 10/18/04, 12:01 PM