Hearing Interpreters being arrogant

Grummer

Grummer

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have any of you ever experienced this?

what do you do about it.

Is there any American-Deaf based agencys that acts on behalf of Deaf people to scold, sack, reprimand interpreters?

just curious

well. there's a couple of interpreters that I know off, who are extremely arrogant and does not mix with Deaf community at all...(does this bit offend you too???) why or why not?
 
I am not aware of this. I'm guessing it's possible that some interpreters would rather show off their turbocharged engine over talking about the beautiful language of ASL.
 
Grummer said:
have any of you ever experienced this?

what do you do about it.

Is there any American-Deaf based agencys that acts on behalf of Deaf people to scold, sack, reprimand interpreters?

just curious

well. there's a couple of interpreters that I know off, who are extremely arrogant and does not mix with Deaf community at all...(does this bit offend you too???) why or why not?
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if the terps work for agency, then you can file a complaint with their employer.

if the terps are self-employed, then you can simply spread the word since deaf community is small and word spreads faster than wildfire.
 
I did make a complaint not too long ago against one male interpretor....the owner of the agency is my friend....So far, I haven't had to deal with this rude interpretor again.
 
I've been lucky. I've only had really nice and helpful terps. I'd be really irritated if I hade a rude terp. I have called an agency once to ask them not to send me a terp they sent, not because she was rude, but because her asl just wasn't up to par and I was having a really hard time understanding her.
 
I wish deaf consumers would complain more. I've had deaf friends complain to me about their interpreters but there's nothing I can do about it in an ethical way. If I complain to the hiring entity, it appears like my sour grapes or trying to steal their business.

I encourage deaf consumers to complain to those who have the power to do something about the problems. That includes poor interpreting skills, bad attitudes, and unethical practices.

Coming to me and saying, "I wish you were my interpreter" doesn't help me or the consumer. I wish I could be the interpreter, too, but I can't interfere in their current relationship.
 
I don't think I ever had a bad interpreter... While it's not "bad" interpreter, I have experience with one interpreter that are not being professional. I took couple classes at university (not regular school - but "adult" classes that you took it to get certification), they provided interpreters. So, after few months of classes and I got an email from a friend that she heard my work have closed down and I went to school, etc... I was puzzled how she knew about that and I thought one of interpreter might have told her or other people.

I actually stepped away from deaf world for over 15 years with no contact of anyone I knew (please don't ask...). I never told anyone what happened to my old job and that I'm going to school. I've asked my relatives and none of them mentioned that. Only suspicion I can think of are interpreters at school. I couldn't file complaint because I don't have direct proof.

Whenever I have interpreter for something, I would have asked them to keep it confidential.
 
JMH said:
...Whenever I have interpreter for something, I would have asked them to keep it confidential.
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That's OK for you to do. It's just a shame that you have to do that. It should go without saying, every interpreting assignment is confidential, period. Interpreters shouldn't need to be reminded.
 
confidentiality doesnt mean shit, its just means they CAN talk about the contents just not your name.
Private is both content (of what is discussed) AND your name.

I get really mad at Terp agencys, Deaf Associations (esp Deaf Aotearoa which in NZ is corrupt which squeaky clean "deaf celebration stuffs and completely ignore any real political matters that might give Deaf people more power - its sick).

Im just saying I get real worried that Everyone Thinks Confidental means they're SAFE, NOT so!, Deaf communites arent big at all, and this bullshit has to stop. Deaf people need to learn the real law business side of things. ( i had too, for sake of being an academic, but then I also wish everyone would know so they would ceased or 'blackflag' or 'redflag undesirable clients' or any of those' seeminly unharmful'gossips about clients' or 'forced decisions' imposed on Deaf client 'because two diff agencies talk behind closed door on decideing the matter 'what best for the client(s), which in reality is about shutting them up, and settle for less' Its really nasty, I havent got proof yet, but when i get better at research - I bloody will!.
 
Grummer said:
confidentiality doesnt mean shit, its just means they CAN talk about the contents just not your name.
Private is both content (of what is discussed) AND your name.

I get really mad at Terp agencys, Deaf Associations (esp Deaf Aotearoa which in NZ is corrupt which squeaky clean "deaf celebration stuffs and completely ignore any real political matters that might give Deaf people more power - its sick).

Im just saying I get real worried that Everyone Thinks Confidental means they're SAFE, NOT so!, Deaf communites arent big at all, and this bullshit has to stop. Deaf people need to learn the real law business side of things. ( i had too, for sake of being an academic, but then I also wish everyone would know so they would ceased or 'blackflag' or 'redflag undesirable clients' or any of those' seeminly unharmful'gossips about clients' or 'forced decisions' imposed on Deaf client 'because two diff agencies talk behind closed door on decideing the matter 'what best for the client(s), which in reality is about shutting them up, and settle for less' Its really nasty, I havent got proof yet, but when i get better at research - I bloody will!.
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just FYI - confidentiality does mean "shit" in here. maybe it doesn't in your country. if there was a breach of confidentiality, a terp will most likely lose his job and/or certification and will never be able to work in this field again.

it's just as bad as perjury.
 
over here, they do Nothing, and ive even confronted an interperters association's 2 bigwigs they just dont flippen care, and /or want to chnage subject (in a public deaf meeting) i was talking about reprimanding or whatever they says 'process' meaning nothing, they didnt even want to admit there's so such thing, ..dobt they want to change it either.they think they are Gods.
 
I've only used interpreters once for a meeting at work a few years ago. They were very professional and friendly. If I were to need interpreters again for a situation like that, I'd likely get them from the same agency.

I have a friend who had a very bad experience with a different interpreter agency. They charged HUGE fees with a minimum of 2 hours pay up front along with covering drive time and distance. He won't be getting an interpreter from that agency again. Even their website URL makes them look bad.

When I was growing up, I had horrible interpreters in school... especially junior high school and high school. One interpreter flipped a pen into the hallway (the noise made the whole class look) and she said it was me. The same interpreter would walk out every day (with 15 minutes remaining in class) just so she can take her medication.
 
It's a job not some right of passage. And, you don't have to like your co-workers or your customers, you just have to do your job.

I certainly wouldn't be surprised if I got a bad interpreter any more than if I got a bad mechanic. In fact, I'd expect it, after all, they are not deaf.

I agree with the others, file a complaint if you think it is warranted.

EDIT: One thing though, I wouldn't be surprised if you see those same people again.
 
VacationGuy234 said:
It's a job not some right of passage. And, you don't have to like your co-workers or your customers, you just have to do your job.

I certainly wouldn't be surprised if I got a bad interpreter any more than if I got a bad mechanic. In fact, I'd expect it, after all, they are not deaf.

I agree with the others, file a complaint if you think it is warranted.

EDIT: One thing though, I wouldn't be surprised if you see those same people again.
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sounds like you've never had a quality service. almost most of the time when I get a service, it's usually great. that includes mechanic, terps, hotel, etc.

how? do your homework beforehand.
 
VamPyroX said:
I've only used interpreters once for a meeting at work a few years ago. They were very professional and friendly. If I were to need interpreters again for a situation like that, I'd likely get them from the same agency.

I have a friend who had a very bad experience with a different interpreter agency. They charged HUGE fees with a minimum of 2 hours pay up front along with covering drive time and distance. He won't be getting an interpreter from that agency again. Even their website URL makes them look bad.
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I don't know about the quality of their interpreting, or how much they charged per hour but charging a minimum 2 hours and mileage/drive time isn't extreme. As long as it was agreed upon ahead of time, then there really isn't a grievance if the service was performed as expected.

When I was growing up, I had horrible interpreters in school... especially junior high school and high school. One interpreter flipped a pen into the hallway (the noise made the whole class look) and she said it was me. The same interpreter would walk out every day (with 15 minutes remaining in class) just so she can take her medication.
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:eek3:

Totally not a professional!
 
On behalf of all hearing folk I really want to apologize for our behavior. I personally think ASL is such a beautiful language and I feel honored to learn it. It really sucks that you all have had such bad experiences with interpreters. I am going to school to be an interpreter (hopefully) and I can only hope I will not be so ignorant and arrogant.
 
chelseautie82 said:
On behalf of all hearing folk I really want to apologize for our behavior. I personally think ASL is such a beautiful language and I feel honored to learn it. It really sucks that you all have had such bad experiences with interpreters. I am going to school to be an interpreter (hopefully) and I can only hope I will not be so ignorant and arrogant.
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Speak for yourself, why are you dragging people into this that haven't done anything? If you personally did something and feel the need to share fine, but last I checked, the "hearing people" didn't elect a poster child to speak with the deaf community or to apologize for things other people may or may not have done.

Laura
 
A federal law in the US ... the HIPAA act ... prohibits any dr, nurse, firefighter, paramedic or anyone in the healthcare industry from revealing any information on a patient without consent ... I don't know if a terp would be classified under the same standards but maybe a complaint could be filed that way if someone felt that had breached some how ... :hmm:
 
I did have couple bad experiences with interpreters or interpreting agencies.

What I did in the past is file complaint with the interpreting agency or shopping for different interpreting agency/freelancing interpreter if possible.

The last resort I would do is reporting the interpreter or agency to RID.

Complaint to RID can result in revocation of the interpreter's certification for violating the ethics code if there is enough evidence of misconduct and unethical behaviors.

For my business-related conducts, I have a separate legal privacy agreement form for interpreter(s) to sign.
 
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