Sign Language Interpreter – StreetLeverage

Posted on January 6, 2016 by Jean Miller — Leave a comment

StreetLeverage: The 2015 Posts that Moved Us

As a way to welcome 2016, we handpicked 10 posts that inspired reflection, demonstrated courageous thinking, or generated spirited conversation. It is our guess that you were moved by some of these 2015 gems as well. If you missed one, take a moment to enjoy the goodness. * Posts not listed in any particular order.

1. Sign Language Interpreters and the “F” Word

One Headline We Wish We had Created Ourselves

Provocative headline aside, Jackie Emmart brings forward the art of asking for and receiving feedback. While the jury is still out on whether “feedback” is a four-letter word or not, it’s a topic that isn’t going away.

2. Recognizing Polite Indifference: Sign Language Interpreters & Power

A Personal Story that Resonated

Michele Vincent’s willingness to open up about a work experience gone sideways in order to share her own journey of self-discovery and shine a light on an important issue had staying power for many.

3. Missing Narratives in Interpreter Education

A Post We Thought Worthy of Even More Attention

Looking back in our history and comparing the statistics shared in Erica West Oyedele’s StreetLeverage – X presentation, not much has changed in the demographics of the profession. Hopefully, as we extend our vision and open our hearts to truly understand, we can invite and support interpreters from underrepresented groups which, in turn, supports the Deaf community in all its diversity.

4. Station Meditation: VRS, Compassion and Sign Language Interpreters

A Positive Outlook on VRS Interpreting

While not as uncommon as one might think, it was refreshing to read a post about VRS that displayed some of the positive aspects of interpreting in video relay. Judi Webb’s long-term experience as a video interpreter shows that longevity in VRS is possible with the right attitude and practice.

5. Do Sign Language Interpreter “Accents” Compromise Comprehension?

A Post that Made Me Conscious of My “Accent” In a Good Way

Carol Padden’s StreetLeverage – Live presentation on sign language interpreter accent will likely resonate for many readers, particularly non-native second language learners. Rather than perpetuating signing errors and disfluent language use, this is an opportunity for interpreters to reflect on their own accent and how they might remedy some of the issues with a little concentrated effort.

6. Self-Awareness: How Sign Language Interpreters Acknowledge Privilege and Oppression

I Wanted to Call the Presenter So We Could Have Coffee and Talk

Powerfully, Stacey Storme reminds sign language interpreters that while the situations we enter into as interpreters have nothing to do with us, “Our work has everything to do with us.” The interpreter is the third context in an interpreted communication and it behooves us never to forget that fact.

7. Horizontal Violence: Can Sign Language Interpreters Break the Cycle?

The Most Popular Post This Year

Clearly, many sign language interpreters have had negative experiences with colleagues which could fall into categories like bullying, harassment or intimidation. Kate Block explores how reflective practice might positively impact the interpreting field. It appears that people agree.

8. Deaf Interpreters: Shaping the Future of the Sign Language Interpreting Profession

A New Paradigm Emerging for Hearing Interpreters

Eileen Forestal’s StreetLeverage – Live presentation explores the dissonance many hearing interpreters feel about working with Deaf Interpreters and encourages practitioners to come to the table open to the possibility that both groups have something to offer as professionals.

9. 10 Lessons from my First Year as a Freelance Sign Language Interpreter

There is Encouragement and Positivity in the Field of Interpreting Today

Brittany Quickel’s 10 lessons illustrate the power of self-determination and positivity. Sign language interpreters everywhere can benefit from these simple, but sage, tips.

10. National Treasure

Those Who Inspire

While this wasn’t a post, our 2015 list of goodness would not be complete without one important addition. StreetLeverage was proud to honor Patrick Graybill at StreetLeverage – Live 2015 as the first StreetLeverage – National Treasure honoree.

Our Hope

Join us for another year of discovery, vulnerability, and meaningful conversation. We look forward to the magic of the journey that will be 2016.

* Interested in receiving StreetLeverage posts in your inbox?

Simply enter your name and email in the field above the green “Sign Me Up!” button (upper left-hand side of this page) and click “Sign Me Up!”

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Brandon Arthur — 2 Comments

FCC VRS Reform Part II – Sign Language Interpreters File Public Comment

The charge of emotion sign language interpreters received at the hand of VRS Reform, while important in prompting us to action, can be detrimental if not checked when filing comment with the FCC. Though appreciative of the sign language interpreter who overcame the inertia of apathy and filed this comment with the FCC, I believe their filing would be taken more seriously were they to have checked their emotion and considered what follows prior to submitting comment.

When Filing FCC Comment

First Things First

When filing comment with the FCC, remember you are submitting comment in a public forum. To dispense with formalities is poor form and a demonstration of one’s lack of competency related to public proceedings. Consequently, please be sure to address your comment to:

Ms. Marlene H. Dortch
Secretary
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554

Further, it is important to reference the docket number for which you are filing comment. The FCC and the general public need to be able to quickly reference the matter upon which you are responding. Yes, this should be a given. In this instance the docket number for the Structure and Practices of the Video Relay Service Program is:

CG Docket No. 10–51

Be Specific

When crafting your comment, please be cognizant that the readers of your submission will not have the reference points found in your head (crazy I know). Therefore, be specific in your comments and recommendations. Comment without sufficient context and specificity are of no use to FCC when considering the impact and development of their proposed rule-making.

The No-No

It is critical to remember when filing a comment that to villainize the FCC, VRS providers, your employer or any organizations is inappropriate and frankly misguided. While we may feel justified in doing so due to the negative impact a proposed rule may have on sign language interpreters, it is important that we refrain.

Callout the Benefits

It works to the merit of your comment to specifically point out the public and stakeholder benefits—which includes the FCC—in all recommendations offered. Further, it is important to consider that recommendations must work on a broad scale, which means any recommendation will inherently work to the exclusion of some.

How to File Comment

To file a formal comment via letter, you need to use the ECFS Expert Form.

The following is required:

Proceeding Number (already entered if you click on the link above, if not enter 10-51)
Name of Filer (your name if filing personal comments)
Type of filing (‘Comment’ should already be selected)
Address
Upload document
Review & Confirm your submission

FCC tips on how to file can be found by clicking here.

Will You Join Me?

In most grassroots attempts to persuade a public entity to adopt a certain perspective, people talk a tough game, but fail to support the effort with their time and/or resources. Well, here goes less talk and more walk.

I have drafted a both a comment to file with the FCC and talking points (at the end) that you can freely incorporate into your own FCC filing. You can find them both here.

I am hopeful that you will join with me in filing comment on this important issue. Remember, we only have approximately 35 days to get our comments in.

Let’s not let our careers be victimized by our own apathy.

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Dennis Cokely — 4 Comments

Sign Language Interpreters – Complicit in a Devil’s Bargain?

Five decades ago those of us who functioned as sign language interpreters were allies of Deaf people, united with them in fighting for communicative access to the various services and opportunities offered to society at large. Working to overcome the daily attitudinal and communicative oppression that confronted Deaf people was a force that served to unite interpreters and Deaf people. Then the communicative access needs of Deaf people were provided by the mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, relatives, teachers, ministers, VR counselors and friends of Deaf people. Indeed, the interpreting scene for Deaf people then was in many ways like it is today for individuals needing spoken language access to society’s services and opportunities.

Communicative Oppression

The communicative oppression Deaf people experienced enabled them to define the work of sign language interpreters in many ways – they vetted interpreters (there were no Interpreter Training Programs or credentialing procedures), they arranged for interpreters (there were no laws requiring provision of interpreters), and they shared their language (there were no formal sign language classes except perhaps in churches) and their “Deaf grapevine” made known to the Community who could be trusted as an interpreter and who could not (there were no referral agencies). For interpreters, supporting the struggle for communicative access was an “other-centered” activity that focused on issues of justice for Deaf people and their rights.

Fifty years later, while audism still persists, the right to communicative access for Deaf people has been ensured by three federal laws (PL 93-112, PL 94-142 and PL 101-336). However, the cost to Deaf people and to sign language interpreters has been quite significant. For Deaf people who, beginning in the seventies and eighties, sought to be viewed as a linguistic and cultural minority, the price of legislatively mandated communicative access was that they were to be labeled as “disabled”; the price of legislatively mandated communicative access was that they would quickly lose the ability to define the work of interpreters; the price of legislatively mandated communicative access was that they would soon no longer be the primary source from which non-Deaf people would learn their language; the price of legislatively mandated communicative access was that reputation within the Community mattered less and less. To be sure, this was a true devil’s bargain, one whose terms may not have been fully made clear to, understood nor foreseen by Deaf people. Nevertheless, the cost to interpreters and to our standing as allies of Deaf people may have been even more severe.

The Consequences

Certainly one consequence of the three federal laws was to create an “interpreter for hire” environment in which the overwhelming majority of hiring entities (school principals, interpreter coordinators, conference coordinators, etc.) would not be Deaf. Thus while we, as sign language interpreters, might hold certification from RID, a non-Deaf dominated certifying or credentialing entity, that fact alone does not mean that we have been vetted by Deaf people or had our skills honed in the crucible of the Community. Additionally these federal laws created the “business model” of interpreting which was a decided shift from the “service model” of interpreting according to which we operated fifty years ago. Among other things, the “business model” has lead to interpreters earning a national average of $38.00 per hour (with a two hour minimum) and referral agencies billing on average twice that amount – a 100% surcharge. And when we consider that 51% of interpreters work full-time and 54% of Deaf people are unemployed, one wonders whether interpreters have materially benefited more from this legislated “Devil’s bargain” than have Deaf people.

Another consequence is that an enormous interpreter supply demand gap was legislatively created. While Deaf people used to arrange for and negotiate for the provision of sign language interpreting services according to their schedules, Deaf people are now forced to live their lives according to interpreters’ schedules and work availability. For example, it is worth noting that, according to national surveys, 78% of Deaf people report that medical settings are the most important situations in which they need interpreting services and yet those are the very settings for which they report it is most difficult to be provided with interpreting services. Little wonder since only 30% of sign language interpreters nationwide work in medical settings more than 30% of the time. Our work choices now dictate the rhythm of Deaf people’s lives. Our work choices constrain the life decisions of Deaf people. Our work choices either uphold or deny human rights and avow or disavow human dignity.

Our Roots

Deaf people used to be the primary source of helping us learn their language and they did so by teaching it to us from birth, or because we had familial ties or because they extended opportunities for us to socialize with them. But now according to a national survey 49% of nationally credentialed sign language interpreters spend less than 10% of their time socializing with Deaf people; only 20% of us are members of NAD and only 8% of us are members of their state association of the Deaf. How then do we keep abreast of changes in the language or changes in the attitudes/perspectives of Deaf people? How do we justify learning their language and profiting from it without giving back? In becoming a “profession” have we simply become parasites?

If, as a group, we interpreters are no longer as tightly bound to Deaf people as we were before, if there is no common uniting cause that binds us to Deaf people, if we have begun to view interpreting as a business rather than a response to personal connections, if we have materially benefited from laws mandating the presence of interpreters more than Deaf people, then the questions must be asked – what are we willing to do as individuals to become reconnected with Deaf people? Are we willing to adjust our work choices to accommodate the rhythm of Deaf people’s lives?

What should we be doing as a field/profession to give back to the Community?

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Brandon Arthur — Leave a comment

How Sign Language Interpreters Survive a Professional Shakedown

You’re traveling along, like you do on any given day when suddenly you feel the muzzle of a gun pressed against the back of Avoid a Shakedown your head and hear, “give me your high rate of pay, all your premium workplace perks, and don’t forget your abounding opportunity.”

It’s a sign language interpreter shakedown. What do you do?

Before you do anything drastic, consider that survival, or in other words maintaining your professional reputation, is most important.

Don’t Panic

When faced with someone grabbing at your rate of pay, industry standard practices, or incidental reimbursement, don’t panic. There is nothing worse than an inconsiderate, emotional reaction. In this circumstance, to react with something like, “Seriously, this offer is an absolute insult to me and my profession…”, will do little to help you survive. It certainly doesn’t position you to rescue your hourly rate, standard practices, incidental reimbursement and/or the potential opportunity.

In fact, it puts your survival and any hope of reaching an agreement at risk.

It’s a Negotiation

After all, at the center of any professional shakedown attempt is a negotiation—albeit a difficult one. What follows are a few key things for sign language interpreters, Sidewalk-Executives, to remember when negotiating.

Don’t Move First

Always remember when negotiating in a high stakes environment—and a person’s livelihood is considered high stakes in my mind—never make the first move. It is critically important that you understand all of the demands of the other party first. To ignore this caution puts you at a significant disadvantage.

What’s Important

Upon understanding the demands of the other party, you have to quickly assess what is most important to you. Is it rate of pay? Work environment? Frequency of the opportunity? Whatever it is, its important that you be reasonable and cognizant of how it impacts the other party and their proposal.

Counter Offer

After you have determined what is important to you, you have to calmly and respectfully reframe their demands and clearly offer an alternative proposal. Do this in priority order (most important points first). Be sure to counter with all that is important to you because attempting to add to these terms later will erode the trust of the other party, which is clearly a no-no.

Done Means Done

Unless something substantive in the agreement changes, once the two parties have agreed on terms there is no more negotiating. A fatal mistake people make is attempting to revisit aspects of the agreement. Don’t do it. Should you attempt, you won’t live to tell the tale and neither will your reputation.

Remember

To act on emotion, move first, or handle the negotiation carelessly will put your professional reputation at risk. If you can’t make it work in the first couple of exchanges, respectfully decline and walk away. Don’t force it or continue to negotiate; its professionally reckless and doesn’t leverage the karma of gratitude to your benefit.

Lastly, remember that negotiating a shakedown successfully takes practice. As you gain practical experience, remember that to error by walking away too early is a preferential outcome to death by way of professional shakedown.

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Brandon Arthur — Leave a comment

Sign Language Interpreters and the Karma of Gratitude

Unemployment, wage reductions, and scant opportunity are just a few things that can describe the last year for sign language interpreters. I believe it easy, given the industry turmoil, for interpreters to stumble into the trappings of ingratitude.

Who could blame us, its been rough out there.

Calling On Karma

While the industry has been a bit of a roller coaster this year, I wonder if we can improve our circumstances and avoid the pitfall of ingratitude by inviting karma to help us. It’s worth a try, no? Let’s try it by expressing our gratitude for a colleague or leader that has made a difference in our career. To know them is to have been changed for the better.

I’ll start.

Paul Christie

With the exception of my life partner Tara (who is the most amazing person I have ever met and an incredible interpreter to boot), Paul Christie has had a tremendous impact on my career. He took me under his wing when I was a young and new to the field. You could say I was more than a little green behind the ears.

During our time working together in the Washington, DC metro area (DC, MD and VA), Paul regularly emphasized:

The importance of balancing one’s Deaf heritage with the standards of the industry.

That an artist creates the experience and the receiver determines the impact.

To believe in myself, but to always consider the effect of my actions – real or perceived.

The importance of balancing family and career.

In addition to the above, and sharing his life experience, Paul was very encouraging when I had the entrepreneurial seizure that later became Visual Language Interpreting (VLI) and was supportive throughout its tenure.

Thank You, Mr. Christie

Paul—thanks for being an incredible human being and an amazing interpreter. My career and journey in the field has been better because of your personal interest in me. Thanks for the invitations to your home, and for listening to a young man while he attempted to figure out his career path and life in general—the goo inside. Lastly, thanks for always being supportive first and constructively critical second.

Take A Turn

I am sure that each of you has at least one person who has had a dramatic impact on your career. Again, let’s invite karma to help us through these industry challenges by publicly expressing our thanks for those who have given us the push we needed, when we needed it.

Your turn!

Posted on November 17, 2011 by Brandon Arthur — 2 Comments

A Sign Language Interpreter is a Sidewalk-Executive?

The sign language interpreting marketplace is peppered with interpreting companies big and small; some are uber successful and others not so much. Let’s be honest, they are telling a similar story and selling nearly the same thing—whether it is Community or Video Relay services. So, what makes one successful and another fizzle?

The answer is simple.

Successful companies have a sidewalk-executive sitting at decision making tables.

A sidewalk-executive is better known in our world as the extremely well connected, highly qualified, in demand, culturally sensitive, professional sign language interpreter.

Why is a sidewalk-executive a substantive advantage?

Lead From the Front

Sidewalk-executives lead from the front. They are not afraid to get their hands dirty in order to get a job done. Their “do what it takes” attitude allows them to operate with the speed of trust when working with customers and colleagues. Sidewalk-executives are relationally oriented and understand the value of effectively managing the intersection where customers and practitioners come together.

The street credit of these professionals enables companies to gain traction quickly with paying customers, Deaf community players, and other sign language interpreters.

Feedback Loop

The connectivity that a sidewalk-executive has to the sign language interpreting marketplace runs deep and wide. They are a critical feedback loop that assists a new company as they navigate the unfamiliar landscape and allows them to quickly correct any missteps or misperception. This loop also helps a company stay abreast of the latest developments in the marketplace and position itself to capitalize on opportunities.

The feedback loop offered by a sidewalk-executive is central to a company receiving timely and unfiltered information.

Magic Maker

The biggest challenge in any enterprise is effectively executing its business strategy—making the magic happen. Because a sidewalk-executive has their finger on the pulse of the interpreting marketplace, they are uniquely positioned to bring these strategies to life. Their leadership has a tremendous impact on the motivation of colleagues and customers, and as a result they can garner the buy-in needed to make things happen.

The ability of a sidewalk-executive to successfully solicit support to implement strategy makes the difference between success and failure.

To: The Forgetful Decision Maker

To those decision makers who may have forgotten the importance of incorporating a sidewalk-executive into the decision making process, I would encourage you to remember what follows.

When you needed:

A guide to navigate the sign language interpreting marketplace, you reached for a sidewalk-executive.
An introduction to key community players and sign language interpreter leaders, you looked to a sidewalk-executive.
Perspective on industry practices, compensation, and trends, you looked to the sidewalk-executive.
An understanding of how to find customers and qualified practitioners, you looked to a sidewalk-executive.
Perspective on the worldview of those who generate revenue for the company, you looked to a sidewalk-executive.
Guidance on how to get buy-in around the company and with your customers, you looked to a sidewalk-executive.

A Hint

If you own or operate an interpreting related business—and things appear to be going sideways—ask yourself if you have enough sidewalk-executive representation at your table. I might suggest you don’t. After all, it was a sidewalk-executive—a sign language interpreter—that helped get the whole thing started.

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Brandon Arthur — 6 Comments

The Goo at the Center of a Sign Language Interpreter

If a sign language interpreter could reach inside and scoop out the goo that makes them who they are, a mixture of artistic judgment, emotional labor, and organic creativity would drip from their fingers. This genuine house blend is the very essence of who they are and why they’ve chosen to do what they do.

To those who work with, play or love a sign language interpreter, it is important that you not underestimate the power of the goo because, at times, it can rival Yoda’s “force!”

So, what are you in for if you find yourself connected to a sign language interpreter? Let’s examine the goo and find out!

Artistic Judgment

Always remember that a sign language interpreter sees themselves as a craftsperson, an artist. They spend hours—even years—honing their skills of observation in order to understand how to most effectively deliver their art. So, they are a quick read of people and are pros at identifying a person’s motivation. As a result of this artistic judgment, interpreters easily make connections with the people they come in contact with.

Emotional Labor

As artists with a keen sense of observation, sign language interpreters become expert at investing in people. They quickly and efficiently invest small increments of emotional labor (personal, professional, linguistic, and cultural mediating micro-decisions) with those they come in contact with. By doing this, they earn the social currency needed to make adjustments in work environments, achieve consensus among meeting participants, and to deliver experiences that are truly remarkable.

Organic Creativity

Sign language interpreters are among the naturally creative. After spending significant time with one, you’ll note they have a high general intelligence and uncanny ability to adapt to nearly every situation. This is possible because after working long hours in new environments, they follow with periods of reflection. These moments of creative exploration give interpreters insight into how to better deliver their art and make connections with people in the world. An interpreter’s inherent creativity is at the root of how and why they are able to comfortably operate in unfamiliar environments.

Goo Ignites Passion

This mixture at the center of an interpreter makes them determined and extremely passionate about their work. This passion and raw determination serves them well most of the time. Note, it can be a double edged sword. On the one hand, a sticktoitiveness sense of being is essential when honing their craft and is critically necessary to survive in their profession. On the other, it can lead them into advocacy roles that may put their reputation and relationships at risk. This due to a belief, and perhaps a naïve one, that the interests of humanity will, and should, prevail.

The Take Away

Sign language interpreters come in all shapes and sizes; most of them are passionate and extremely committed to their craft and the community they serve. Always remember, it is the goo that makes them compassionate, highly self-aware and work to possess a high level of intelligence. It is also this goo that drives a passion that can be misinterpreted or misunderstood.

All-in-all, to know a sign language interpreter is to know someone who cares deeply about humanity in its many forms.

Posted on August 19, 2011 by Brandon Arthur — Leave a comment

Sign Language Interpreting—An Industry Past Feeling?

Person peeking out window It is often said that the anonymity of living in a big city and the effort to avoid feeling imposed on by the crush of humanity, makes people hard and unfeeling. After all, it’s only in the big city that a person can be attacked 3 times in a 30 minute period—as 38 witnesses look on—without single person placing a call to 911 that would save their life, right?

As I consider the staggering pace of change the sign language interpreting industry is experiencing and the magnitude of the challenges we confront, what is striking to me is what appears to be a sense of indifference and a dismissal of our need to be responsible industry citizens.

Why Do We Just Look On?

Why do we standby as our practices and standards are attacked by short-sighted colleagues, industry business and associations, and local and national regulating bodies? Why do we look on as the quality of life that has taken decades to achieve erodes as regulation after regulation is legislated without us? Why do we willingly sit quiet as our credentials and professional organization are increasingly viewed as unnecessary or irrelevant?

Is it because we have grown complacent under the 3 squares a day provided by staff employment? Is it because we believe someone who better understands the issues will take the time to file a comment? Is it that the part-time Government Affairs Program at RID is sufficient to ensure interpreters interests are represented in every city and every state and that every piece of legislation is crafted so we remain eligible to do the work? Or, maybe it is that the hundreds of our colleagues who are recently underemployed/unemployed—as a result of industry regulation and change—is really someone else’s problem. While these maybe true for some, I believe it is something more alarming.

We have lost our confidence.

The Confidence Crisis

For the first time in our collective history, the bigger challenges facing our industry are not directly related to moving the act of interpreting from an occupation to a profession; so we find ourselves feeling unprepared. This feeling of being unprepared has given us an awareness of some sizable blind-spots in our field of vision. We no longer intuitively understand the rules of engagement. We don’t have direct access, in most cases, to the decision makers and people of influence. We are unfamiliar with proper protocol and the process to meaningfully get things done. We don’t know where to go to understand the issues or stay informed in real-time.

In short, we are unsure what to do.

So, we look on questioning our ability to help, believing someone else will make the call that will stop the attack. We look on fearful that to act may result in our being numbered among the unemployed/underemployed. So, we ignore the reflex to act and begin the internal chase for justification.

What Now?

Simple, we commit to stare down our discomfort and act.

We recondition our reflex to sit out by recognizing that the choice not to act is an action itself and only perpetuates the conspicuous absence of our collective voice in shaping the future. We seek out information to understand the implications and consequences of the actions being taken by us and around us. We conduct ourselves in a way that we are counted among the artists in our communities creating positive change.

Like the responsible citizen who hears the plea of a person being attacked, we endeavor to make the situation better. Like this responsible citizen, each of us has a valid contribution to make. So, let commit to make it and remove the perception that we are indifferent to the outcomes of the actions swirling around us.

We do care and we are not past feeling.

Posted on August 3, 2011 by Brandon Arthur — Leave a comment

What Characteristics Should the New RID Executive Director Have?

The removal of longtime Executive Director, Clay Nettles, on the eve of the 2011 RID National conference came as quite a surprise. See the official information release here. A change in leadership at the top of any organization has many considerations. It is my hope that—in the end—both RID and Clay can find a mutually agreeable way through the transition.

During the conference Cheryl Moose, outgoing RID President, stated, “it’s a new day at RID and we look forward to moving things along with the hiring of a new Executive Director.” Clearly, this position is important to the success of RID and its representation of the sign language interpreter community. In my mind, because this position is so important, the Search Committee should be seeking specific characteristics.

Specific Characteristics

Keep the organization in sync with its members, and work with the Board to get ahead of the issues confronting the industry.
Passionately tell the story of our industry.
Recognize that both the organization’s success and their success—ushering in a new day—depends on their ability to identify patterns of change and position RID accordingly.
Reshape the way the organization, its members, and industry businesses/organizations work together.
Work with the Board to mold a future group of leaders in order to multiply RID’s ability to make better decisions and get things done.
Anticipate external forces that may limit the forward movement of the organization.
Insist on accountability throughout all facets of RID.
Consistently recognize the contributions of the current and past artists within our field.

While this isn’t an exhaustive list, I believe—based on my purview of the industry—RID would be well served by someone with these skills.

Roll-up your sleeves Search Committee; you’re going to need to get dirty on this one.

Posted on August 2, 2011 by Brandon Arthur — Leave a comment

Are You an Artist or Just the Sign Language Interpreter?

You know them, the sign language interpreter “everyone loves, everyone wants to hire, and everyone wants to work with.” Where do people with this perfect blend of supernatural skill and inviting personality come from? Regardless of the answer, I believe we can agree that these amazing people exist in small numbers—only a handful per community. Though small in number, the positive impact of their work and interactions is far reaching. These interpreters clearly approach their daily work differently and in that difference I would call them artists.

Differentiating Characteristics

I know…I know…artists are difficult to categorize and often defy classification. While this is true, there are characteristics consistently held in common by this group of sign language interpreting artists that the rest of us mere mortals can learn from.

Sign Language Interpreter – Artists:

Believe that art is a choice first, a commitment second, and never a “pastime.”
Understand that it isn’t the size of the stage, number of people, or the sophistication of those they work with that defines their art or its importance.
Subscribe to the notion that art is only created when it is freely given.
Understand that context is everything.
View the sign language interpreting profession as more than a zero sum game.
Take ownership of their humanity and the mistakes and flaws in their work that result.
Don’t minimize the details.
Embrace the concept that meaningful change begins internally.

When you consider the scarcity of the characteristics listed above, it is clear why there are so few artists in the profession of sign language interpreting and why we desperately need more of them.

It Starts With a Choice

It occurs to me that the daily choice to overcome the inertia of a short-term industry perspective is what prevents most of us from being artists. Regardless of how slow and imperfect the industry progresses lets choose to be among the few in our community with the courage to create art and make a difference.

While aspiring to be a Lou Fant —whose long-term perspective helped establish the early footings of our profession—might be a stretch for most of us, we can be Lou-like in someone’s life today.