Page 25 - Reading Between the Sign Intercultural Communication for Sign Language Interpreters

10 Reading Between the Signs

Specific suggestions of techniques with which to make cul-
tural adjustments will be given in chapter 8 as well as a list of
situations in which cultural adjustments would not be appropriate
or necessary.
In the last chapter, we will consider our relationships with Deaf
people outside of our working hours to see how social relation-
ships are also dependent on sensitivity to culture.

My Consultants

This book was not written alone. In the Acknowledgments section
I have already listed the names of many fellow sign language in-
terpreters and Deaf people who shared their thoughts, experiences,
and opinions with me. At this point I would like to give special
thanks to Daniel Langholtz and Priscilla Poynor Moyers, two Deaf
friends and colleagues who acted as my consultants during the
writing of this book. Along with Tom Holcomb, they read my drafts,
made notes, and patiently answered my questions. Our discus-
sions were not only enlightening but were also thoroughly enjoy-
able, as we compared our cultures and our feelings about them.
Since both Daniel and Priscilla are superb relay interpreters (in-
termediary interpreters who work in legal and other settings to
†
attain optimal interpretation ), I felt they had a deep understand-
ing of the process and challenges of interpreting. In chapter 9
their thoughts and opinions regarding interpreters’ relationship
to the Deaf community will be expressed.

Conventions
Deaf/deaf
Following current convention I use capitalized Deaf to refer to fea-
tures of Deaf culture and those individuals who identify them-
selves with the culture. The lowercase deaf is used to refer to the
audiological condition of deafness. Since the focus of this book is
about cultural differences between mainstream hearing Ameri-
cans and Deaf Americans, the natural subject of this book will be
the culturally Deaf. “Deaf people see themselves not as little ‘d’
deaf, a usage associated with the medical pathology, but as big

† Please see pages 168–69 for a more complete explanation of this role.

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