From Jamie Berke,
Your Guide to Deafness.
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Introduction

Sign language interpreting for deaf and hard-of-hearing people has expanded internationally, with the rise of disability rights movements and disability awareness. Enough countries have national associations of sign language interpreters now that they have been able to form their own international organization, the World Association of Sign Language Interpreters (WASLI).

History of WASLI

Like many deaf organizations, WASLI, based in the U.K., was an outgrowth of a deaf conference. In this case, it actually originated when the 1995 World Congress of the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) initiated a working group to establish the association. Further progress was made in 2002 when the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf in the United States hosted a World Symposium for Sign Language Interpreters, attended by more than 300 people.

WASLI was formally established at the 14th World Congress of the World Federation of the Deaf, held in July 2003 in Montreal, Canada. At that conference, 60 interpreters from 20 countries met to formalize international interaction among interpreters, and WASLI was created.

The early history of the WASLI is detailed in the United Kingdom-published journal, The Interpreter and Translator Trainer, Volume 1, Number 1, 2007. Author Zane Hema has a four-part paper in this journal, titled "WASLI – Past Present Future." The Interpreter and Translator Trainer is published biannually by St. Jerome Publishing.

WASLI Conferences

The inaugral conference of the WASLI was held in 2005, in South Africa. Twenty-two people attended that first conference. A second was held in 2007 in Spain. The third is scheduled for 2011 in South Africa.

The proceedings from that first conference were published in Proceedings of the Inaugral Conference of the World Association of Sign Language Interpreters. This book is available through Forest Books.

Information and Resources from WASLI

The WASLI website provides information and resources for interpreters internationally. A list of intepreter training programs internationally is available, along with information on each country's testing, assessment, and accreditation system.

In addition, a published newsletter can be read online, as well as a calendar of international interpreting events. There are links to individual countries' intepreting codes of ethics. Resources are provided on guidance for different interpreter situations such as team interpreting and conferences. For non-English readers, multiple-language PDF summaries are available.

Membership in WASLI

WASLI has four forms of membership: National organizations for interpreters, provisional membership (in the process of establishing a national interpreting association), individual membership, and sponsorship organizations. Many countries are already members of WASLI, including:

• Australia
• Austria
• Brazil
• Canada
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Ireland
• Italy
• Kenya
• Malaysia
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Nigeria
• Philippines
• Portugal
• Scotland
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• U.K.
• U.S.

Sources:
World Association of Sign Language Interpreters website Accessed 08/11/07