Interpreters who are HoH?

Etoile said:
Yes, I have hearing loss in some frequencies. When I wear my hearing aids, I can hear those frequencies. So if I was working for you, you would have an interpreter that hears all frequencies - as I mentioned, I wear my hearing aids at all times when I interpret. Is that unacceptable because I am still HOH?

It seems to me that the interpreter is the one who knows if they are capable of interpreting successfully. The client has no way to know the hearing ability of any interpreter. If the interpreter shows up to interpret, the client has a reasonable expectation that the terp is capable of giving all the information. Furthermore, hearing while interpreting depends on a lot more than an audiogram...as people have mentioned here already, acoustics, positioning, accents, and many other things affect how well any interpreter receives a message.

I fully respect your right to choose your interpreter, but I don't see how you can make the blanket statements about HOH interpreters based on your bad experiences with a few. I work with three other HOH interpreters besides myself on a daily basis, and they are all excellent interpreters. If somebody turned them down because they are HOH, I would feel sorry for the client, because they would miss a great interpretation that contained all of the information.
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If you were working for me and I noticed that you wear HA's, your ability to interpret would be more scrutinized because of the doubt that HOH interpreter can interpret.

Do you want that?
 
Etoile said:
I gotta disagree with you about using d/Deaf all the time...they have different meanings. You do NOT have to be profoundly deaf in order to be Deaf. There is no dB loss requirement for Deafness or Deafhood. So you could say "if you are deaf, you don't hear at all" but saying "if you are Deaf, you don't hear at all" is not accurate. I also don't think that everyone who DOES hear somewhat is a "hearie" - it seems to me you are trying to paint something black and white when really the Deaf community is a whole rainbow of people.
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Well said.
 
Byrdie714 said:
:ty: deafbajagal.

Yet if an indidvidual says, "with my hearing aids, I hear everything a hearing person hears," leads me to wonder, how do they know what a hearing person hears with an aid of a hearing aid?

( I know....the conspiracist in me is "coming out." :lol: )
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Ahahaha, but I am late-deafened! I do know what a hearing person hears! (*evil cackle like Mr Burns on Simpsons*)

Byrdie714 said:
If you were working for me and I noticed that you wear HA's, your ability to interpret would be more scrutinized because of the doubt that HOH interpreter can interpret.

Do you want that?
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Ummm...I can wear my hair down if I ever interpret for you?! They are really small, I bet you wouldn't notice!

If you prefer to scrutinize my performance, that is fine; I am comfortable with my skills that I can handle that. In fact, I would welcome you to do it, so that you can see that a HOH interpreter can meet your needs for excellent service as well. :)

You can definitely pick the terp you want, and if you don't want me or another HOH terp that is fine. Besides, we are kind of friends through the Internet, I probably shouldn't interpret for you anyway! Of course that is if I would ever go to Washington state. :) I just want to say that some HOH terps can function as hearing people, so they can be trusted to give you quality service. :)
 
Etoile said:
Ahahaha, but I am late-deafened! I do know what a hearing person hears! (*evil cackle like Mr Burns on Simpsons*)


Ummm...I can wear my hair down if I ever interpret for you?! They are really small, I bet you wouldn't notice!

If you prefer to scrutinize my performance, that is fine; I am comfortable with my skills that I can handle that. In fact, I would welcome you to do it, so that you can see that a HOH interpreter can meet your needs for excellent service as well. :)

You can definitely pick the terp you want, and if you don't want me or another HOH terp that is fine. Besides, we are kind of friends through the Internet, I probably shouldn't interpret for you anyway! Of course that is if I would ever go to Washington state. :) I just want to say that some HOH terps can function as hearing people, so they can be trusted to give you quality service. :)
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Just like some hearing terps can function as deaf people! :lol:
 
Byrdie714 said:
By showing up as an HOH interpreter, the client will always have doubt that one is capable of hearing everything. And always wonder if they got all the information....
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Some clients have those doubts anyway. I have one deaf client that claims I must be hard of hearing because I couldn't hear what someone was whispering to a friend at the opposite side of a crowded cafeteria, and that I couldn't interpret what people in the next office were discussing, with the door closed. :roll:

Sometimes I can't hear everything because the place is just too noisy. I had to stand in front of an amplified as big as me, inches away, at full power, with rock music blaring, and some how interpret the words of the song that weren't very clearly enunciated to begin with. Also, the curvature of the hard wall surface bounced the sound back at me. I had such a headache after two hours, and my ears kept ringing.
 
Reba said:
Some clients have those doubts anyway. I have one deaf client that claims I must be hard of hearing because I couldn't hear what someone was whispering to a friend at the opposite side of a crowded cafeteria, and that I couldn't interpret what people in the next office were discussing, with the door closed. :roll:

Sometimes I can't hear everything because the place is just too noisy. I had to stand in front of an amplified as big as me, inches away, at full power, with rock music blaring, and some how interpret the words of the song that weren't very clearly enunciated to begin with. Also, the curvature of the hard wall surface bounced the sound back at me. I had such a headache after two hours, and my ears kept ringing.
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Well it's obvious that particular client isn't being realistic.
 
Reba said:
Some clients have those doubts anyway. I have one deaf client that claims I must be hard of hearing because I couldn't hear what someone was whispering to a friend at the opposite side of a crowded cafeteria, and that I couldn't interpret what people in the next office were discussing, with the door closed. :roll:

Sometimes I can't hear everything because the place is just too noisy. I had to stand in front of an amplified as big as me, inches away, at full power, with rock music blaring, and some how interpret the words of the song that weren't very clearly enunciated to begin with. Also, the curvature of the hard wall surface bounced the sound back at me. I had such a headache after two hours, and my ears kept ringing.
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I wasn't surprised to read your post. A lot of deaf people do not really understand how sound and speech work (I admit I'm one of them - it still amazes me that just because I'm out of sight doesn't mean that a person cannot hear me).

One time it was really a noisy environment and the interpreter was struggling to hear what was said. The other deaf person with me got a little irritated AT the interpreter. I told the deaf person - "Wait a minute. It's not her fault that she cannot hear over the people chattering. It's our responsiblity to ask the speaker (professor) to clarify what was said."
 
Byrdie714 said:
Because we have the right to have a capable interpreter. As we have discussed before, we've had some bad experiences with HOH interpreters. Myself, I won't accept an HOH interpreter.QUOTE]

Interesting...I've had bad experiences with deaf consumers. Does that mean I won't interpret for any deaf people?

I happen to be a very capable interpreter who happens to have a hearing loss. My HAs compensate for my hearing loss very well; I would encourage you to not stereotype all HOH interpreters as incompetent.
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HoHGuyOhio said:
Interesting...I've had bad experiences with deaf consumers. Does that mean I won't interpret for any deaf people?

I happen to be a very capable interpreter who happens to have a hearing loss. My HAs compensate for my hearing loss very well; I would encourage you to not stereotype all HOH interpreters as incompetent.
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Saying that you are capable and others saying that you are capable are two different things Chris. :)

You probably had bad experiences with deaf consumers for the fact that you showed up with your HA's and the deaf consumer probably felt that they were getting short end of the stick in terms of service. Of course that is just an assumption.

I would not accept an interpreter that happends to be HOH. Period. If you have an issue with that--that's your problem, not mine.

Interpreters that are HOH and wear HA's are going to have to accept the fact that there will be extra scrutiny of their work. If you can't handle it, then maybe it's time to look for another job in another field.
 
Byrdie714 said:
Saying that you are capable and others saying that you are capable are two different things Chris. :)

You probably had bad experiences with deaf consumers for the fact that you showed up with your HA's and the deaf consumer probably felt that they were getting short end of the stick in terms of service. Of course that is just an assumption.

I would not accept an interpreter that happends to be HOH. Period. If you have an issue with that--that's your problem, not mine.

Interpreters that are HOH and wear HA's are going to have to accept the fact that there will be extra scrutiny of their work. If you can't handle it, then maybe it's time to look for another job in another field.
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Ouch!
 
For what it's worth, I've never had any negative reactions to the fact that I wear hearing aids. If people notice them at all, they usually just say "why do you have them" and I say "I'm hard of hearing" and they say "oh, okay." Nobody has ever criticized my work, asked for another interpreter, told me that they were watching more closely, told me that they worried about getting all the information, or anything. Never, not once. This is the first time I have heard anyone express concern over the issue. Which is fine, diversity makes the world go 'round. But in person, nobody has ever said anything about it to me.
 
Etoile said:
For what it's worth, I've never had any negative reactions to the fact that I wear hearing aids. If people notice them at all, they usually just say "why do you have them" and I say "I'm hard of hearing" and they say "oh, okay." Nobody has ever criticized my work, asked for another interpreter, told me that they were watching more closely, told me that they worried about getting all the information, or anything. Never, not once. This is the first time I have heard anyone express concern over the issue. Which is fine, diversity makes the world go 'round. But in person, nobody has ever said anything about it to me.
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Out of curiosity.....for those that you had to explained that you were HOH, did you ever interpret for them again?
 
Byrdie714 said:
Wow...you answered fast. :lol: Of course it helps if one develops rapport with the 'terp too.
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I get e-mail notifications of replies to threads, helps me follow the conversation. So I often reply right away. :)

It sounds like you are doubtful that any of my clients would want to have me as a terp again. Like, Gee, if they found out I was HOH, they must not want to work with me again, but if we have a good relationship, they'll be okay with it. I hope I'm misinterpreting your tone of voice.
 
Etoile said:
I get e-mail notifications of replies to threads, helps me follow the conversation. So I often reply right away. :)

It sounds like you are doubtful that any of my clients would want to have me as a terp again. Like, Gee, if they found out I was HOH, they must not want to work with me again, but if we have a good relationship, they'll be okay with it. I hope I'm misinterpreting your tone of voice.
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:) Well I'm not using my voice. I'm using my fingers to post. :lol:
 
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