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amymarie29

amymarie29

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:wave:Hello, my name is Amy. I have been trying to research info on learning medical sign language. I am taking ASL at the local college, but they don't offer medical ASL. Can anyone please help me? I would like to be a medical interpreter. :ty:Thanks I appreciate any feedback.

Amy McCreary
 
Hi Amy - Welcome!


One book you might want to get as a reference tool is [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Websters-American-Language-Medical-Dictionary/dp/0375709274/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1294034708&sr=8-1"]"Random House Webster's American Sign Language Medical Dictionary"[/ame]

It's a good dictionary for medical terms especially as a guide for explaining various medical conditions etc in laymans terms to Hoh/Deaf patients (who don't have a medical background).

It's not the "be all, end all" medical dictionary - but it's a fantastic resource!!
 
Check out any medical sign language books at the store or the library before you buy. I don't think you'll find any medical sign language book to be very helpful. I'm a family practice provider and have a few deaf patients. I didn't find any of the medical signs to be very useful.

There are basic signs for "kidney", "liver", etc... But most things are better off described in ASL. For example... there is no sign for hydrocephalus (if I'm wrong, someone correct me - but I'd be surprised). You would be better off describing the condition and spelling it out. Then you and the person you are working with can come up with an impromptu sign if this is a word that is repeated often during the discussion.

There are also signs for different groups of medications (ie. benzodiazapines). However, the signs for those different groups (in the book I had) is "pill" + "downer" or "pill" + "upper". I don't find those signs to be specific enough to be useful.

Your best bet is to familiarize yourself with medical terminology (spellings and meanings). Understanding the term will allow you to sign it clearly in ASL. Knowing the proper spelling of things (ie. common medications and anatomy) is also important to avoid confusion. It is VERY important that the interpreter understand what is being said in order to accurately interpret.

The other thing you will need to do is contact your local hospitals. Several hospitals require interpreters to take a HIPAA (privacy law) class before they can work at that facility. They may also have other requirements I'm unaware of. I'm not an interpreter, so I can't help much there.
 
I just thought of another idea....

Buy a regular medical book. Hire an ASL tutor. Read from the medical book to your ASL tutor. They will be able to help you learn the best way to sign medical terms in a way that will be clearly understood by others. The medical book will also give you some sort of understanding of medical terminology, which I feel is very necessary in becoming a medical interpreter.
 
Thanks everyone!
I am in my second semester of sign language and this semester I am taking medical terminology. Seajensurf I appreciate all your feedback. We plan on moving to TN next year, so I am going to have to wait. I learn better with DVD's than the books. Sometimes it is hard to understand the signs in the book. Do you happen to know if there is a DVD for medical terminology in signing?
Hope everyone is having a great New Year so far. ;)
 
amymarie29 said:
Hi to you two ;) (REBA) lol That's my favorite show
Click to expand...

Reba is a professional terp that is a member of this site.:P

But I agree with the others. There are a couple of good dictionaries out there that have language specialized for the medical arena. Same with legal issues, church interpreting, and other specialties.
 
The advantage of the [ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375709274/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1W4C74D82TZJJ4JJYGGM&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846"]ASL Medical Dictionary[/ame] I mentioned previously is that it provides clear ASL phrases for various medical conditions etc commonly used in the ASL community. (which, most of the time is better than making up your own descriptions which may or may not be similar to what the ASL/Deaf community knows/uses).

Many technical medical terms are fingerspelled (then explained in ASL) - instead of having a specific sign, but there are also accepted ways of explaining many conditions in ASL and knowing how the Hoh/Deaf ASL community tends to sign specific medical conditions is VERY helpful for both parties (the Hoh/Deaf person as well as the hearing signer).

It's also important to remember that the interpreters job is to INTERPRET (not education), it's the Doctors' (RN, LPN etc) job to explain the medical condition to the Hoh/Deaf/SI individual - through the interpreter and the Hoh/Deaf/SI individual's job to ask the doctor/RN/LPN etc for clarification, explanations etc. regarding what something means - through the interpreter.

(I'd be fairly ticked off if my interpreters took it on themselves to "explain" a medical condition based on THEIR knowledge instead of asking the doctor to very briefly explain the condition (aka "Hyperglycemia, means high blood sugar") then sign what the doctor said and (as an aside such as "KNOW KNOW Q??") ask if I (the Hoh/Deaf person) wanted the dr to explain further what the word/condition meant or acknowledge that I understood the term.



The Elaine Costello series of dictionaries is very helpful - and a "standard" reference series which many of us have (at least a few of) in our homes :)


The series includes:

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Websters-Unabridged-American-Language-Dictionary/dp/0375426167/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_6"]Random House Webster's Unabridged American Sign Language Dictionary[/ame]

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375709274/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1W4C74D82TZJJ4JJYGGM&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846"]Random House Webster's American Sign Language Medical Dictionary[/ame]

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Random-Websters-American-Language-Dictionary/dp/0375719431/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1294101661&sr=1-8"]Random House Webster's American Sign Language Legal Dictionary[/ame]

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Websters-American-Language-Computer-Dictionary/dp/0756786908/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_10"]Random House Webster's American Sign Language Computer Dictionary[/ame]

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Religious-Signing-Comprehensive-Guide-Faiths/dp/0553386190/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1"]Religious Signing: A Comprehensive Guide for All Faiths[/ame]

Hope that helps!
 
Anij said:
It's also important to remember that the interpreters job is to INTERPRET (not education), it's the Doctors' (RN, LPN etc) job to explain the medical condition to the Hoh/Deaf/SI individual - through the interpreter and the Hoh/Deaf/SI individual's job to ask the doctor/RN/LPN etc for clarification, explanations etc. regarding what something means - through the interpreter.
Click to expand...

I agree that it is absolutely the doctor's responsibility to explain medical conditions. I still feel it is very important that a medical interpreter be knowledgeable of medical terms. It's hard to sign concepts that you don't understand. Also, for all that fingerspelling you will have to do, it's important you already know the correct spelling (or ask the doctor for the spelling no more than once - it's the doctor's job to educate the patient, not the interpreter).

I think of it this way... I'm fluent in ASL, but I know nothing about cars. If I were ever asked to interpret an auto shop class, I don't know what I would do. I could sign in ASL. But, someone else who is fluent in ASL AND knows car repair terminology and concepts would be better suited for the job. Same thing can be applied to medical interpreting.

Even if we were to suppose that you don't have to be savvy in medical terminology to interpret medical situations, I would think having that extra knowledge would put you way ahead of the game making you more desirable to the Deaf community.

Also... don't forget... There are deaf students attending medical or nursing schools. I used stenography for lectures, but relied on an interpreter for my interactive labs. I'm very fortunate that the school was able to provide me with medical interpreters that were already familiar with the terminology and spellings. That made a huge difference to me.

My bottom line is this - Become fluent in ASL and medical terminology and you will make a great medical interpreter. Best of luck to you!
 
SeaJenSurf said:
I agree that it is absolutely the doctor's responsibility to explain medical conditions. I still feel it is very important that a medical interpreter be knowledgeable of medical terms. It's hard to sign concepts that you don't understand. Also, for all that fingerspelling you will have to do, it's important you already know the correct spelling (or ask the doctor for the spelling no more than once - it's the doctor's job to educate the patient, not the interpreter).


Absolutely - To clarify, I'm not saying that the OP shouldn't also become very versed in medical terminology including spelling. The OP absolutely will need to get a number of written English texts etc with medical terms etc so they become fluent in "medical speak". However it's also important that an interpreter has the professional explain the term to the patient (through the interpreter) not the interpreter signing their (the interpreter's) knowledge on what that term is. Do you understand what I mean?




I think of it this way... I'm fluent in ASL, but I know nothing about cars. If I were ever asked to interpret an auto shop class, I don't know what I would do. I could sign in ASL. But, someone else who is fluent in ASL AND knows car repair terminology and concepts would be better suited for the job. Same thing can be applied to medical interpreting.

I'm a seminary student - so my university level classes deal with a lot of very technical and specific terminology. Educational interpreting has some differences espeically regarding "prep" to Drs office visits etc.

For example at the start of my courses (usually a few days before) the prof will give my interpreters & myself certain information about that class - in addition to the course outline that we would have got earlier with a reading list of books, text required for the class (because my interpreters often have to read/have copies of the text/books we use - they have "homework" just like me!). One of the most important piece of "additional information" that we get is a vocabulary list that gives a list of all the technical etc words that we'll be using / learning in the class. Often this vocabulary list will also have brief definitions along side them as well. The profs also will typically provide websites or books that are espeically good at providing concise, clear definitions to vocabulary. At that point it is our job (my interpreters & myself) to make sure that we are familiar with all the words that will be used, research any that we don't know, decide which signs to use if multiple signs are available, and create temporary signs for words that need to assigned them. We also create "cheat sheets" in case on of my usual interpreters is ill and another interpreter has to jump in (who will likely not be as versed in theological terms as my assigned terps)

In GOOD educational interpreting settings the interpreter doesn't just show up for the class and interpret a topic on which they know nothing about, they've in most cases done quite a bit of "prep" so that they are able to do their job well -"jump ins" occasionally happen with subs and it's a nightmare for the interpreter and the Hoh/Deaf person more often than not . Also many interpreters will prefer/specialize in certain fields - which is noted on their file with the interpreter agency so that when a specific job comes an interpreter who is comfortable in that setting can be booked.



My bottom line is this - Become fluent in ASL and medical terminology and you will make a great medical interpreter. Best of luck to you!
Click to expand...

Absolutely !

The OP stated they're taking some classes at a community college - I'm making the assumption (perhaps wrongly) that this means that are not currently in an ITP (interpreter training program), rather that they are in the first years of taking ASL (ASL 101 - 303 etc) that are the prerequisites to entering an ITP.

As such the Medical Terminology book I suggested will be a good resource for them to use now - as it will allow them to see how various medical terms are typically translated into ASL etc.

They ABSOLUTELY will need to also study (English, with some Latin & Greek) medical terminology ... and in fact if they plan on specializing in medical interpreting (hospital setting etc) then I'd actaully recommend that at some point, if they haven't already that they also take a university level introduction courses in anatomy, biology and physiology.

Hope that helps!
 
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