Interpreters Are Professional But Human Too
A Deaf client, Lola, applauds SL Interpreters as professionals because she believes they "are doing a good job, and they are kind enough to go to college to learn how to translate for the Deaf" Lola continues, "We need them, without them, we would be frustrated, struggling and have limited communication." Lola's appreciation reflects most clients' thoughts on qualified interpreters. Deaf clients have great respect for SL Interpreters, who took the time to complete their education to become professional interpreters.RID is "the national professional organization of interpreters-it has a special interest group for educational interpreters" who seek to become better qualified (Lane et al., 257). Lane et al., argues that "it is appropriate [for SL Interpreters to] be required to hold a college degree if they choose to work in the educational setting" (261). However, an interpreter I interviewed, Mike, exclaims, "I am not a machine!" The term machine is a powerful statement that stresses the responsibility and pressure for the interpreter to translate two languages simultaneously using physical and mental faculties. As Mike points out, professional SL Interpreters cannot be expected to be emotionless and painless while working the long hours required at times. Thus, Mike's exclamation reflects the needs of interpreters to be seen as human and not as mere "tools."
According to Jan Kanda (1990), one way interpreters maintain self-care in a demanding, yet fruitful, occupation is to adhere to professional decorum. As such, the interpreter maintains a professional distance from her/his clients in order to "avoi[d] causal and social interaction with their professional clients" while working (2). Sal, a client, implies that many interpreters are doing their best to "empower the parties involved, [because] balance is important and so is neutrality. It is important to adhere to these principles to offset the rather emotional conversations taking place at times. Involvement can become a problem and interfere with the interpreting process"
To say the least, the role of SL Interpreters is a challenging one since they need to maintain awareness of their roles and responsibilities by not becoming intellectually, physically and emotionally involved while working with clients to ensure proper care is taken so as to be of use to their clients and to themselves.
Relationship Between SL Interpreters And Clients
In discussing the relationship between clients and SL Interpreters, I wish to note that I am writing from a biased position: a culturally Deaf, young, black, female student. That having been said, I have attempted to approach my subject in a scholarly manner. The following section explores first-hand accounts from Deaf clients and SL Interpreters. The interviews were drawn from a pool of personal friends, representative of all walks of life, and SL Interpreters I have worked with in the past.A 1998 case study concerned the elements of professionalism: ability to treat one's client with respect and dignity, detaching from one's own interests and biases to better serve the client, striving to meet the needs of the client rather than to superimpose structures and procedures that disempower them. During the writing of this paper, I became familiar with the following case study and found the underlying issues of trust or its lack thereof, relevant to this section.
The client was a fifteen-year-old girl, "Rose," who attended a regular high school for the first time. As Rose entered grade 10, having been previously educated in Deaf schools, the CHS assigned her a "wonderful" woman, "Pat." Rose and Pat had a mutual regard for one another that meet the criteria of professionalism listed above. Pat was gracious, kind and encouraged Rose. Rose, an adolescent facing the public school system for the first time, bonded with Pat and was very sorry to see her go on maternity leave. However, Rose was assured Pat would return at its end and so welcomed Pat's replacement, "Beth."
Rose began to notice disturbing trends in her relationship with Beth. For example, Beth often was impatient with Rose. The CHS, the Deaf schools and the public school system that Rose attended failed to inform her of her right to a note-taker. So Rose tried to take her own notes. When Rose would bow her head to write, Beth would become irate and impatient, humiliating Rose in front of her classmates. Beth would wave to get Rose's attention and then tell her to "listen" and not lower her head.
Rose understandably became hurt,
