Page 183 - Reading Between the Sign Intercultural Communication for Sign Language Interpreters

168 Reading Between the Signs

Much of our work, however, involves situations between people
who may not see each other after this one meeting, such as an
interview at the Social Security office or an urgent doctor’s ap-
pointment, or between people who may see each other several
times but always with an interpreter present, such as regular check-
ups with one’s family physician or a week of work-related train-
ing. In these types of situations, when a cultural issue comes up
the participants may have no outside information with which to
enlarge their perspective and may be more focused on achieving
the goal of the meeting at hand than on really getting to know
each other. The interpreter, therefore, should be on the lookout
for misunderstandings that may stem from differing cultural be-
haviors.
The fifth factor would be special circumstances, where the lit-
eral words or signs used by one or both participants carry special
significance and must be preserved. One instance where it is im-
portant to convey the literal words used is in an educational situ-
ation where a student will be tested on specific vocabulary. A more
complex one would be a mental health session, where it is im-
perative that the hearing therapist know exactly what the Deaf
patient signed in order to assess the severity of a mental disorder,
so the interpreter must convey the Deaf patient’s message liter-
ally, even if it appears to make little sense or lacks closure. It is
also important to note that in mental health interpreting the inter-
preter and the client should not engage in the “waiting room chat”
that would be expected in other circumstances. The reason for
this is that rapport needs to be established between the therapist
and the client so they can effectively work together. If the inter-
preter and client establish their own connection through sharing
a common language, it may deter the client from developing a
clinical relationship with the therapist.
The sixth and last factor (although you will probably be able to
add other factors to this list), is the presence of a Deaf relay inter-
preter. In certain circumstances a team of interpreters made up of
a hearing interpreter and a Deaf interpreter can most fully opti-
mize understanding by all the parties involved. Situations where
Deaf relay interpreters can enhance communication include work-
ing with a Deaf client from another country who may have lim-
ited fluency in ASL and/or fluent or limited use of a foreign sign
language; a Deaf client with minimal or limited communication
skills (this may include some kind of nonstandard gestures or

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