Ethics. Grumble.

[maeveenroute]

So, I got two (*two*) e-mails today, both from students at the med school, explaining that they had organized a panel event with three Deaf presenters, that it was happening the day after tomorrow, and that they'd been having trouble finding interpreters

Comments

[maeveenroute]

Oh, my - I wasn't actually trying to troll for food ... but that having been said, I'm certainly not going to turn it down, especially when it comes with good company. ;c) (In other words, thank you, and yes. *smile*)

Were you still thinking of running lines, too?

[mousebreath]

Oh joy, I approve. You've earned brownie points today, if nothing else.
I e-mailed them back with several places to go to find interpreters. Yippee. How do you think they got our e-mail addresses anyway? And why was this all so last minute??? So suspect.

Y'know, if there's one thing I've learned about interpreting and interpreters in the past year, it's that hearing people largely cannot speak this language. It's scary. Every once in a while, we get together and play the game, "If you could design an ideal ITP, what would it consist of?" And the response always starts, "Well, first they would be required to already be fluent in ASL..." Yeah. And as I feel my ASL ability approaching the level of a 4-year-old (I may be giving myself too much credit here, but I did meet someone dumb enough to think I was deaf today), I'm starting to feel like I've reached a good starting point.
Pessimistic? Yes. Realistic? Even more so. Nihilistic? I just used a big word.

[allophone]

Knowing a foreign language (even knowing it well) does not qualify one to be an interpreter.

Thank you for saying that. It is so true! I get so tired of telling people those same words...