You work hard. Put in the proverbial elbow grease. Pull teeth in order to get what you want or need, and you got the bite marks to prove it. And then… someone else comes along and shamelessly lays claim to the fruits of your labor.
Sounds like a typical cutthroat workday, right? Wrong. I’m talking about making arrangements for an interpreter.
Throughout the years, I’ve noticed two different types of people who ride on the coattails of other people’s efforts. There are those people who realize you have first dibs and follow your lead because, if not for your efforts, the interpreter wouldn’t have been there in the first place.
One time, I secured an interpreter for an event that was hosted by the county public school system. It just so happened that a deaf couple showed up, and they were not aware of the procedure for obtaining an interpreter. During the event, while we all were utilizing the interpreter’s services, the deaf couple respectfully yielded. “GO AHEAD YOU FIRST PERSON ASK,” they would sign in fluent American Sign Language (ASL).*
I’ve also been on the other side of the fence. There were occasions where someone else had already snagged an interpreter, and I have deferred to the person. In situations like these, the interpreter usually does his/her best to evaluate the situation, and makes sure we get equal treatment. However, it’s an unwritten rule that the person who made the request first gets first dibs.
An interpreter friend of mine recounted the time when four interpreters from two different agencies showed up for the same job. It turned out that the two deaf clients each requested interpreter services without being aware of the other’s actions. They all came up with an agreeable solution, which was that one interpreter from each agency stayed. This was to ensure that both agencies get reimbursed properly.
Then there are those people who need to consult Aretha Franklin and learn about “R-E-S-P-E-C-T/find out what it means to me.” To put it bluntly, they are just plain selfish, rude, and inconsiderate.
A colleague of mine requested a cued speech transliterator for a workshop. An unfamiliar deaf person showed up. Upon seeing the cued speech transliterator, the person nearly threw a fit in demanding to know where the sign language interpreter was. Turned out the person didn’t bother to log in an accommodation request. Tough cookies.
An experience took place a few years ago that left a sour taste in my mouth. I had finally secured an interpreter for a personal event, after battling the famously ubiquitous line spouted by the organizers: “You need to bring your own interpreter.” Upon arriving at the venue that night, I was enjoying myself until I noticed a man slowly slithering his way to where I was. “DEAF YOU?” he inquired. After affirming that I was, he declared, “SAME SAME.”
After a short period of time making small meaningless chit-chat, his ulterior motives became clear. He attempted to whisk the interpreter that I fought hard for away from me for whatever communication purposes that suited him. Even the interpreter darted a questioning glance towards me regarding his shenanigans.
“WAIT WAIT WAIT! DO DO?” I signed to him in an urgent manner.
“WRONG WRONG WRONG?” he responded, repeating that sign in rapid succession that is the loose ASL glossy* version of the phrase: “Whatsamatterwithcha?”
“STOP PLAY. ME SERIOUS. WHAT-DOING?” I demanded.
“NOTHING TAKE EASY. NO BIG D-E-A-L.” The last word he fingerspelled each letter with a flourish.
“YES BIG D-E-A-L! NOT RIGHT TAKE INTERPRETER WITHOUT CHECK WITH ME FIRST!”
Then he said something that took the interpreter and me by surprise. “FOR FOR ASK YOU? ME HAVE RIGHT USE INTERPRETER. YOU MUST LEARN SHARE.”
Then the interpreter, who generally did not like confrontations, was becoming slightly alarmed at the turn of events. She then stepped in and informed him that she could not just pick up and leave with him without checking with me first since I made the request for an interpreter, and not him.
“ME NOT ACCEPT. SHOULD SHARE PERIOD.”
“EXPECT ME ACCEPT ACCEPT LET YOU GO?” I shot back. “NO NOT ACCEPT! INSULT ME.” I glared back at him. I then motioned for the interpreter to come with me, and we left him in the dust. Of all the nerve! Needless to say, I did not see him the rest of the evening.
“There are deaf people who feel an automatic entitlement to things without actively making some kind of effort,” confessed an interpreter I contacted. “This is true in other demographics, but especially predominant in the Deaf community.” This interpreter requested anonymity due to the potential backlash from clients, who are a part of the Deaf culture, an extremely small world indeed.
Sometimes, unique situations arise and you stand up to the occasion– simply because its the right thing to do morally, even so it may not be legal. There was that time I participated in an intensive all-day seminar. A Latina woman happened to be the half of the interpreting duo. Early on, it was discovered that one of the deaf participants’ mother did not have a strong command of English as Spanish was her native tongue. We all felt bad for the mother because she was struggling to understand what was going on.
Evidently, the ball was dropped somewhere, and a Spanish translator was not available. The interpreter asked her partner and us if it was OK that she step down from her role as a sign language interpreter and provide translation services for the mother. All of the participants unanimously agreed, much to the relief of the mother. A short time later, the agency sent over another sign language interpreter, and the company that organized the seminar agreed to take on the extra expenses for their oversight.
My general philosophy is that if you put in the elbow grease, you should be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor. However, the fruits of your labor would be sweeter if you share them with someone respectful of your efforts. Have you experience any horror stories about obtaining an interpreter only to have someone waltz in and think s/he is entitled to their services?
* Important note: Because ASL does not have a true written format, glossies are American Sign Language (ASL) signs transcribed into English, sign for sign. It’s a common misconception that ASL glossies are “broken English,” but that is not true. ASL is a language in its own right. I do not profess to be a linguistic expert in ASL, and the above glossies are derived from my particular experience.
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Yikes!! I hope I will never face this situation!
Honestly, the biggest problem in this arena is that too many d/Deaf people are not educated about the roles and responsibilities of interpreters. This issue is something I would dearly love to address….when I have time.
Bear in mind that what I have to say is from personal experience only. It may or may not apply to the larger population of deaf people who use interpreters on a regular basis.
Growing up, I was lucky to be educated in a school system that had multiple interpreters in each school and a process for requesting interpreters for after-school events. I went to college with that knowledge, and worked diligently with Disability Student Services and their contracting agencies. I knew all the procedures for requesting interpreters. I knew there was no guarantee for getting someone within 24 hours for a last-minute request, though they would try.
My second year of college, a newbie, wet-behind-the-ears freshman showed up. Deaf. Had the same interpreter in middle school and college. He was the only deaf student in his high school — maybe one other. He had no idea what the process was for requesting interpreters. He assumed that it was automatically done (somehow–ESP? I dunno). There were many times when the DSS staff and I wanted to strangle him. Especially with one situation:
We both took an Economics class. One day, the professor announced he would hold an evening review the following week from 5-7 for midterm review. (This was a 7-day advance notice.) I didn’t bother requesting an interpreter because I wasn’t planning on going.
Around 4pm of Review Day, I’m in another class, when my pager goes off. It’s the freshman, wanting to know if I’m going to the review and if I requested an interpreter. I told him no. Turned out he wanted to go and never requested an interpreter and had assumed I would attend the review. Again, assumption.
I stepped out into the hall with my interpreter and explained the situation. We called DSS and another interpreter we knew would be available, and we worked it out so that the freshman could have an interpreter at the review. I let him know that we had worked it out, but man, I was SEETHING MAD. Especially since I took time out of my own class to help him out. (Yes, I know I didn’t have to, but I’m too nice.)
And then I realized he really had no clue about the process and the consequences. It is as important for clients (deaf and hearing consumers) to understand the role of the interpreter as it is for the interpreter and agencies/contractor to uphold those roles and responsibilities. The question, then, is:
Who is responsible for educating the deaf consumer?
Furthermore, why do so many deaf people think that all they have to do is “show up” at an event and expect interpreters to be available? It’s one thing if event organizers publicize availability of interpreters–that’s great. But county- or school-specific events, private events, etc… it’s up to the deaf consumer(s) to request interpreters.
I feel like the rule of thumb should be: Never assume anything. If you do the work, you’ll probably reap the fruits of your labors. If you don’t, you’ll probably be SOL.
And, Vikki? Kudos to you on taking your interpreter with you and leaving that guy in the dust. I hope he learned his lesson.
I had a very similar experience with a review session my freshman year at college. A classmate, who is deaf and with whom I had grown up, wanted to attend the review session for our science course. He knew I also planned to attend, and decided against requesting an interpreter, knowing full well I’d do it because I’m nice.
I did end up interpreting the review, though it was worthless for me because everything went in one ear and out the hands (har har). As politely as I could, I suggested that next time he request an interpreter that WASN’T a student.
Sigh:
I have to agree with what you said– “I feel like the rule of thumb should be: Never assume anything. If you do the work, you’ll probably reap the fruits of your labors. If you don’t, you’ll probably be SOL.”
I assume SOL means sh– outta luck? Smile.
I attend quite a few concerts. I always make the effort to request interpreters. I have a couple of preferred interpreters, i tend to let them know that I’ve requested interpreters at a concert i’m attending, so they can keep an eye out. She usually lets me know whether or not she’s heard about the event looking for interpreters or if she’s doing the show.
the only problem is– when i go to concerts i prefer them to interpret english not asl — cuz i have my own meanings to the songs. to me, asl doesn’t do some songs justice. so i try to request that, but it doesn’t always go through. if i’m the only one there, I make sure to tell them that. On occassion there has been other deaf people, we tend to agree especially if i’m the one who requested the interpreters, and I usually am.
I did have a bad experience once where I asked the interpreter to please sign english because she was doing the songs in ASL. she absolutely refused because that was how she rehearsed the song. Do i care whether she rehearsed the song? No, I wanted her to do what I asked. even the other interpreter asked her to do the song in english cuz it was per my request. she still wouldn’t, needless to say the other 2 interpreters interpreted the rest of the time.
I did recently go to a Hip hop show, which i requested merriweather to send out a request at least a month in advance since it was an all day festival and hip hop isn’t the easiest thing to interpret. well, they didn’t book anyone til 2 weeks before the show. and for one person I had 8 interpreters! Lucky me! but i told them to relax, if you don’t understand them, just try. I’m not picky. but i think they did an amazing job regardless of short notice.
it does take research to find out who to ask, who to talk to. it’s definitely not easy, especially if you’re not from the area because you don’t know the interpreters and their styles. It might take a little leg work, but i do encourage each person to put the effort forth. Just to make your life easier when you do go to events.
Whatever happened to having the company (third party) getting an interpreter? Of course, 99.9% (an exaggeration/assumption on my part) of these third parties have no idea how to go about getting an interpreter. They often ask Deaf consumers to reserve one for them.
Ok, let me rephrase, whatever happened to Deaf consumers acquiring/securing an interpreter(s) for the event itself? It seems we’re playing this “finders - keepers” game.
Generally, I agree if a Deaf consumer got an interpreter for an event, then that interpreter should be with that Deaf consumer. But what happens if there are other Deaf consumers there? Is it “TFB for you” (sorta like the Biblical virgins and the lamp oils)? Or should every Deaf consumers get their own interpreters? Then we’ve reduced the interpreters to being our own personal assistants of a sort.
I’m not sure where exactly I stand on this because I’ve of heard “horror” stories from both the Deaf consumers and the interpreters. Does the interpreter’s job/mission change when there are additional Deaf consumers on site? Should the unprepared or last-minute-registered Deaf consumers accept the consequences and roll with the punches? (But then why bother going to an event if you’re not gonna understand an iota?) Should the prepared Deaf consumers be willing to share when additional Deaf consumers are discovered?
D’oh. I think I asked more questions than I intended.
LARRY:
A majority of these companies may not have accounted for the needs of the deaf/HOH consumers/participants. Oftentimes, I had to play the dreaded telephone tag (using relay, to boot!) to reach the appropriate contact who then would make arrangements to secure an interpreter.
Like Sigh said…never assume.
Hi Vikki - Thanks for writing this post - it is such an important topic!
I’ve been faced with another issue that is somewhat related - requesting an interpreter for a public event and specific accomodations (English transliteration), getting it all set up, and then having the event publicized to the general community as “interpreted”. Usually the interpreter defers to the majority language preference, even if I’ve done the requesting - which is your point.
If it is a social or entertainment event, I’m usually willing to go with a compromise, but when it is a professional event in my field and the other attendees are just there out of curiosity, it rankles having the interpreter opts for compromise instead of honoring my original request.
Once I requested interpreting of a public lecture by a famous author - one of my all-time favorite authors in the world. I arrived to find hordes of interpreting students in attendance; as a result, the interpreters switched from Transliterated English (my request) to
ASL so the students could see the lecture in ASL. My ASL receptive skills were not great at that time (they’ve since improved).
I remember crying literal tears of bitter disappointment during most of that lecture because I had saved my hard earned money to see one of my heroines in action, had done all the legwork to get communication access, and then had that squandered so hearing interpreting students could “see a show”. Since then I have only requested captioning at that particular venue as a way to ensure that I get the access I’ve requested.
I’ve also discovered a partial solution for professional events - I get something in writing from the agency that my language request is given priority over members of the general public who happen to wander in - especially important if I am the presenter! I then make sure I have a copy of this to show to the interpreter - fortunately, I’ve only had to do this a few times. I’m not entirely comfortable with it, and would love to know how others resolve this.
This is a tough situation for the interpreter(s) and the original client, to be sure…
Teresa, just curious — who was the famous author?
Teresa:
I like the idea of having something in writing to remind the interpreter that your language request should be honored. You did the work, you should enjoy the rewards!
About your particular situation, I would have told the interpreter that my ASL receptive skills were not strong enough, and that these interpreting students did not need the services of the interpreter. I would have made the suggestion that these students be exposed different methods and kinds of interpreting available, and that ASL is not a “one size fit all” solution.
I hope those bitter tears of disappointment turned to furious click-clacking on the keyboard lodging a complaint against said interpreter. That was really not cool at all.