church signing issues

[Reba]

I don't even know what ITP is.

An ITP is a formal interpreter training program, usually at a college. It's the minimum requirement for becoming an interpreter. After that comes certification.

The SEE 'transliterator' is married to a deaf lady, that's his training.

I see. That has pro's and con's. The pro is that they are probably comfortable with understanding each other. The con is that the husband may not be able to be completely objective when interpreting; it's like the rule that family members shouldn't interpret for each other at doctor's appointments.

I am both self taught and trained by our certified terp. I go to whatever ASL classes I can. Some of the local certified terps give classes occasionally. I started out just doing the simple responses and over time have been given more and more responsibility. We would all LOVE to be certified, but that's not realistic.

Why not?

We have others who occasionally interpret too, some school interpreters, some CODA, and others. Our certified terp is the mother of deaf children, all adopted, and is highly trained and does all kinds of professional interpreting including legal and medical.

Yet your terps still have issues? Who is in charge of the terps? Do you periodically get together to go over these issues?

Yes, an SEE and an ASL member relay the signs.
I doubt if they have formal training. Everyone involved seems happy with the arrangement and they seem to prefer it that way.

Interesting. What type of age demographics are your deaf attendees?

 

[ohmylight]

first, the things I mention are often specific to 'bible speak', both New and Old Testament. The issue is how to translate that kind of language, not specifically what the subject of the text is. So it should apply to temple, church, mosque, hall, or whatever. If I were to try and be inclusive in my post it would be 10 times longer.

That was complicated in my undergrad courses too because I studied Shakespeare.

My own church where I attended prior to and at the start of my hearing loss never came up with an interpreter so I stopped going... the only signing church in my area is JW.

 

[ChurchBoy]

An ITP is a formal interpreter training program, usually at a college. It's the minimum requirement for becoming an interpreter. After that comes certification.

I know church interpreters are the lowest of the low. I know I can't get a job interpreting at a school (although the requirements are often waived or relaxed due to shortage of interpreters) or a paying assignment, nor do I wish to. That doesn't mean I'm not learning those things taught there, it's just not formally. Our cert terp cracks a mean whip. Much of what we interpret on Sunday is rote, the same week after week. The homily is the hard part, and if possible I defer that to the others with a better vocabulary than I. But sometimes I'm it and I just do the best I can. The readings I can prepare in advance so I can go nuts with ASL there.

re: SEE husband/wife. I see. That has pro's and con's. The pro is that they are probably comfortable with understanding each other. The con is that the husband may not be able to be completely objective when interpreting; it's like the rule that family members shouldn't interpret for each other at doctor's appointments.

see the above about repetition. He does fine, we always check with everyone to see if we are doing OK and so far we are getting passing marks. I must admit that I sometimes find the signs he uses amusing. Correct English yes, but the sign usually means something else in ASL.

Why not?

re: certification: time, availability of classes, money, travel. those that want to be professional will certainly do it.

Yet your terps still have issues? Who is in charge of the terps? Do you periodically get together to go over these issues?

Our cert terp is 'the boss'. We do meet to go over these issues, but that doesn't mean we always agree. San Bernardino county is HUGE and it's difficult to get all the terps together.

Interesting. What type of age demographics are your deaf attendees?

families mostly, but couples, widows and single people too, all ages.

thanks.

 

[Reba]

I know church interpreters are the lowest of the low.

I wouldn't make such a sweeping statement as that.

I know I can't get a job interpreting at a school (although the requirements are often waived or relaxed due to shortage of interpreters) or a paying assignment, nor do I wish to. That doesn't mean I'm not learning those things taught there, it's just not formally. Our cert terp cracks a mean whip. Much of what we interpret on Sunday is rote, the same week after week. The homily is the hard part, and if possible I defer that to the others with a better vocabulary than I. But sometimes I'm it and I just do the best I can. The readings I can prepare in advance so I can go nuts with ASL there.

I, too, interpret at church but we don't have any rote material. Every service is different content. The only material we sometimes get in advance are some of the songs.

Our cert terp is 'the boss'. We do meet to go over these issues, but that doesn't mean we always agree. San Bernardino county is HUGE and it's difficult to get all the terps together.

How far away is the church for you? Your church membership covers the whole county? How large is your membership? (In number of people, not pounds. )

 

[Bebonang]

Los Angeles is a big place. I know of one Catholic church that is entirely a deaf community with a signing pastor and it's near downtown Los Angeles. The other church I mentioned in our area is a 'Church of Christ', mine a Roman Catholic parish. Down in Riverside there is a 'School for the Deaf'' near another Catholic church and they have a big community there.

I am familiar with the Deaf community in both Riverside and Los Angeles. I used to attend the Catholic Church years ago in Los Angeles. The Catholic Church provided two interpreters so that we can understand more easily than one interpreter.

As for Riverside, I used to live there and was married. I had some Deaf friends. After I divorced my first husband, I moved to Los Angeles with my youngest son and worked there for a year. Both Riverside and Los Angeles have large Deaf communities and I attended Deaf events in both counties.

So now I know that you are living in Los Angeles, California. I understand.

 

[ChurchBoy]

...

How far away is the church for you? Your church membership covers the whole county? How large is your membership? (In number of people, not pounds. )

well, the deaf ministry is coordinated on a diocesan level, and the diocese covers the whole county. San Bernardino county is the biggest county in the country, so from one end to the other we might have to go 100 miles to meet in the middle. There are monthly meetings at this level.

We get some help from neighboring Los Angeles diocese. A signing deacon from there comes by periodically and help insure we use common signs, but the main goal is for each individual community/parish to serve the needs of those who attend locally. In other words we are not all required to be ASL or SEE or whatever.

Now that I think of it we get some help from the Orange County diocese community too. I get an e-mail on Friday or Saturday with an ASL gloss of the Sunday readings from their coordinator. I match that against my own gloss and adjust as necessary.

some facts:

• The Diocese of San Bernardino serves about 1.6 million Catholics across San Bernardino and Riverside counties, making it the nation’s 5th largest diocese.
• The Diocese of San Bernardino covers 27,293 square miles, an area larger than nine U.S. states.
• The Diocese contains 93 parishes, 12 missions, 30 schools and two Catholic hospitals

My parish is only 1.5 miles away. We meet after Mass for a debriefing (oops'es, ah ha's, and maybe's) weekly. The classes I mentioned earlier usually happen in the summer and run for a number of weeks. One time it might be sign-to-voice training, another on specialized vocabulary, Deaf culture sessions, story telling (fun classes), etc. Those classes are not centered around the church, they are taught by county interpreters, all certified. Continuing education units are offered for those interested in certification.

So, at our specific parish, we might get 1 or we might get 30 attending any given Sunday. Interpreting is done at maybe 6 or 7 parishes scattered around the diocese. We are working to develop the ministry and expand. Many deaf Catholics do not go to church because the nearest signing church is too far. They might go to another denomination for a while but they usually come back.

 

[Reba]

well, the deaf ministry is coordinated on a diocesan level, and the diocese covers the whole county. San Bernardino county is the biggest county in the country, so from one end to the other we might have to go 100 miles to meet in the middle. There are monthly meetings at this level.

We get some help from neighboring Los Angeles diocese. A signing deacon from there comes by periodically and help insure we use common signs, but the main goal is for each individual community/parish to serve the needs of those who attend locally. In other words we are not all required to be ASL or SEE or whatever.

some facts:

• The Diocese of San Bernardino serves about 1.6 million Catholics across San Bernardino and Riverside counties, making it the nation’s 5th largest diocese.
• The Diocese of San Bernardino covers 27,293 square miles, an area larger than nine U.S. states.
• The Diocese contains 93 parishes, 12 missions, 30 schools and two Catholic hospitals

My parish is only 1.5 miles away. We meet after Mass for a debriefing (oops'es, ah ha's, and maybe's) weekly. The classes I mentioned earlier usually happen in the summer and run for a number of weeks. One time it might be sign-to-voice training, another on specialized vocabulary, Deaf culture sessions, story telling (fun classes), etc. Those classes are not centered around the church, they are taught by county interpreters, all certified. Continuing education units are offered for those interested in certification.

So, at our specific parish, we might get 1 or we might get 30 attending any given Sunday. Interpreting is done at maybe 6 or 7 parishes scattered around the diocese. We are working to develop the ministry and expand. Many deaf Catholics do not go to church because the nearest signing church is too far. They might go to another denomination for a while but they usually come back.

Thank you for explaining.

I belong to an independent Baptist church, which means we are autonomous. All our ministry is done on the local church level.