Text 6. Interpreters for the Deaf

Interpreters for the deaf are hearing individuals who listen to a spoken message and communicate it in some way to hearing-impaired people. In interpreting it is permissible to depart from the exact words of the speaker to paraphrase, define, and explain what the speaker is saying. Interpreting is differentiated from translating, which is a verbatim presentation of another person’s remarks.

Until 1964 interpreters were mainly family friends or relatives who knew sign language. In 1964 the National Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf was established to promote the recruitment and training of interpreters, to clarify their functions, to specify the competencies required for interpreting, and to maintain a list of certified interpreters.

There are various types of interpreters for the deaf: sign language interpreters, who communicate what has been said in some form of sign language or finger spelling; oral interpreters, who inaudibly repeat the speaker’s message, (clearly enunciated and somewhat more slowly) to facilitate its speech reading by deaf persons; and reverse interpreters, who convert a deaf person’s sign language or difficult to understand speech into normally spoken English. Specialized interpreters, familiar with the pertinent technical language, serve in legal, medical, psychiatric, and rehabilitative settings. Educational interpreters facilitate the mainstreaming of deaf students in schools and universities. Theatrical interpreters sign operatic performances and Broadway shows.

The first case involving PL 94 – 142, the Education for all Handicapped Children Act – the precursor to IDEA – decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, was a demand for a sign language interpreter by the parents of a mainstream deaf child, Amy Rowley. The Court decided that this particular deaf child did not need an interpreter. However, in other cases, sign language interpreters have been ordered, even for elementary school students when teachers state that interpreters are needed for pupils to benefit from their classes and actively participate in them. In 1982 the U.S. Court of Appeals mandated state vocational rehabilitation agencies to provide interpreters for deaf clients attending college.

The Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1965 provided that interpreter services must be included as part of vocational rehabilitation services. Since then, most states have mandated that deaf individuals must be offered sign language interpreters whenever their civil rights are involved. Interpreter training programs are available throughout the United States. Many colleges offer an AA or BA degree in interpreting.

(Source: Encyclopedia of Special Education, THIRD EDITION Cecil R. Reynolds and Elaine Fletcher-Janzen, Editors, 2007)

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