question about interpreter

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asl_learner

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My girlfriends interpreter has been doing something i disagree with and i need to know what you think. Ever since she came to our school she has been trying to correct our signs or like yesterday she tried saying that a sign we were doing wasint even a sign but i know four Deaf people that use it. does she have the right to correct my girlfriend when my girlfriend has been signing all her life? Please reply.
Thanks,
Daniel
 
asl_learner said:
My girlfriends interpreter has been doing something i disagree with and i need to know what you think. Ever since she came to our school she has been trying to correct our signs or like yesterday she tried saying that a sign we were doing wasint even a sign but i know four Deaf people that use it. does she have the right to correct my girlfriend when my girlfriend has been signing all her life? Please reply.
Thanks,
Daniel
Click to expand...

The interpreter has no right to correct your girlfriend. She crossed the boundary lines. I would flip out if an interpreter corrects me. I will tell her or him that she/he has to stay within professional boundary lines.

Sometimes the interpreter does ask me why I am using this sign or whatnot but after I explain, the terp will usually say Cool and try to adapt to my style of signing while terping for me. Each terp is required to match the client's communication style, not the other way around.
 
Interpreters shouldn't be correcting signs... because there are more than one way to do a sign... so it is the interpreter's job to accept the sign as it is, but as long they understood what it meant. :)
 
The interpreter should not correct a Deaf person's signs. If it is a sign that the terp doesn't know, or if the terp uses a different sign, the two of them should have a polite discussion to find understanding. The terp could say, "That is a new sign for me. I usually use this other sign for that concept. Can you please show me again, and give me some sentence examples how to use it? I will try to remember to use your preferred sign next time. Thank you for showing me something new."

The terp can use that Deaf's sign for that person. The terp can use other signs for other Deafs, if they prefer. There is much variation in signs, depending on regions, person's age, formal or casual, etc. Terps need to be flexible.

I am a terp, and I learn something new every day!
 
Interpreters should not be correcting signs unless it's something that's completely out of the ordinary.
 
I fogot to mention, that I never "correct" a sign but sometimes I do use new signs or classifiers, especially for technical topics that the student has not yet experienced. Usually I ask first, "Do you know a sign for _______ ?" If the student doesn't know a sign for that concept, then I will show the sign that I know, and ask, "This sign OK for you?"
 
Reba said:
I fogot to mention, that I never "correct" a sign but sometimes I do use new signs or classifiers, especially for technical topics that the student has not yet experienced. Usually I ask first, "Do you know a sign for _______ ?" If the student doesn't know a sign for that concept, then I will show the sign that I know, and ask, "This sign OK for you?"
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That's the proper way of doing it. I get that with my interpreters for my computer-related courses.
 
Oy, that interpreter obviously does not know that different regions have different signs, and s/he has no right to "correct" our signs.
 
Yeah, I think it's wrong. I have talked to someone else who had that problem with an ASL professor who told the girl not to talk while signging. Geez! Definitely should talk to the interpreter and let her know. Complain to her boss if she doesn't change.
 
I really hate it when anyone corrects the way I sign things or pronounce words. It really pisses me off.

Richard
 
How would a hearing person feel if he was told to change his accent or way of talking by an outsider?

There are many different signs for a word and I often meet deaf people from the East or South with different signs so we often compare notes and figure out what works the best.

I do get told that my signs are wrong or "outdated" whenever I visit East but I am comfortable with my own regional signing, if you know what I mean? :)
 
Well, you know...I have an accent and I have recently found out that there are people who seems to repeat what you said in the correct pronunciation louder and with emphasis. It happens and just stupid people who don't know that we don't give a s-it or that it is much harder for us than it is for them. Some people can't stand to hear accents.

If people try to correct you just say thanks and explain why you don't care in a polite way or go on as if you don't care (don't notice). Hopefully they get the hint.
 
TiaraPrincess....you said you have an accent. Do you mean accent as in you being a foreigner or access as in "deaf accent"?
 
Yes. I have both :D. Some of it are attributed to lack of confidence. Though, you cannot tell where I am from at all because I don't have an accent that identifies easily where I am from. Most will think it's an accent while others who knows that I am deaf ahead of time will automatically think that it's just a deaf accent until they find out because I don't look foreign either. My aural rehab therapist told me that she thinks I have both while my audiologist thinks it's a deaf accent, but me knowing myself better I know it's not at all a deaf accent. Impossible. I can hear the differences in words pronunciation, but I can't repeat it back with Americanish accent. I thank my audie for being honest with me, but eh she knows me better and longer than my audiologist. Most people won't be honest about how I sound, but I do know from observing. Yeah, I can be mysterious, and I know I have bad days with my voice/speech too :D. I was told by 2 teachers that I spoke like an American. I was like ummm.....right. It won't hurt my feelings to hear the correct thing. Glad to confuse people :D. Until then, where I am from remains a mystery.--wink--..........lol


-----------------------------Where's Waldo?---------------------------------------
 
Ahhhhh,is Mademoiselle TiaraP French? Or is Fraulein Tiara German? Or is TiareP a stiff-upper-lipped Brit? Or perhaps she is a senorita? :nana:
 
Hi Daniel I'm interpreter myself.

Hi Daniel,
If your girlfriend is an interpreter and shes been signing all her life, no one can has the right to tell her that what she signed was wrong.
The deaf know whats a sign and whats not.
I've known ASL now for 29 yrs and proud of it!!
Your girlfriend should not worry about what other people say.
I'm on you and your girlfriends side!!!
Margie
Dir. of Communiation Services
OCDAC( Orange County Deaf Advocaity Center.)
 
I think that's terribly rude. I'm hearing, so can't really say much in the way of interpreters though. But imagine if someone said a word I didn't recognize. I wouldn't just say bluntly, "That's not even a word". No, I would say something like, "I'm not familiar with that word. What does it mean?".

I think the way the interpreter handled it was just outright rude.
 
My girlfriend is almost 22 and Deaf so that means she's been signing for what 19-20 years i think that that gives her more knowlidge of the signs then her terp will ever have because my girlfriend requires ASL as a way of communication not just something she wanted to lern as a hobie am i correct? Thanks,
Daniel
 
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