Deaf interpreters facilitate communication between deaf/hard of hearing individuals and speakers. They can be certified by NIC, RID, or NAD, with two types of certification offered: Generalist and Specialist. RID assigns 12 different roles for interpreters, including educational, legal, healthcare, religious, and VRS interpretation.
A deaf interpreter, also called a sign language interpreter, is a person who interprets between deaf and hard of hearing people and speakers. Some deaf interpreters are certified by the National Interpreter Certification (NIC) test, and others are certified by the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) or the National Association of the Deaf (NAD). There are two types of certification offered: Generalist Certification and Specialist Certification. To some extent, what a deaf interpreter does will depend on whether or not you are certified and, if so, as a generalist or specialist. There are also twelve different roles for RID-defined interpreters.
Generalist certification as a deaf interpreter signals that the certificate holder is skilled in a wide variety of interpreting and transliteration situations. But the type of certification can still make it clear what the holder is qualified to do. For example, the OTC (Certified Oral Transliteration Offered by RID) is certified only in the use of silent oral techniques, along with natural gestures, to transliterate a spoken message from a hearing individual to a deaf or hard of hearing person. conversely, it is only awarded to individuals who meet the standard in both the voice-to-sign and sign-to-voice skills.
A separate certificate, listed under generalist but still catering to a discrete segment of the population, is Ed: K-12 (Certificate of Education). The Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment (EIPA) is administered by the National Research Hospital of Boys Town. This certificate is for interpreters working in classrooms, but is not limited to a single sign-on system. The certificate is for interpreters who work with students who use ASL (American Sign Language), MCE (Hand Coded English), and PSE (Pidgin Sign English) and who demonstrate proficiency in both Sign-to-Sign and Sign-to-Speech. The currently available specialist certificates are for interpretation in legal settings.
The other way to look at what interpreters do is to look at the roles the RID assigns to interpreters in their Standard Practice Documents (SPP). So, for example, as mentioned above, a deaf interpreter can work in an educational environment, both in the instructional environment and in accompanying the student on excursions, sports competitions and other situations outside the classroom. Also as mentioned above, a deaf interpreter can work in a legal setting such as a court of law.
Additionally, a deaf interpreter may work in a healthcare setting, for example, during consultations, providing patient education and counseling, and helping to admit a patient into an emergency room. A mental health care setting is an even more specialized example of where a deaf interpreter might work. This could involve assisting in a psychiatric evaluation, a self-help group, an emergency room or a residential facility, for example.
Another setting an interpreter may work in is a religious setting, such as at a church service, at weddings or funerals, or at religious education retreats or classes. Lectures or presentations in which the words of the speaker, presenter or actor are signed or transliterated is another facet of interpretation. Video Relay Service (VRS) interpretation allows phone calls for people who communicate with ASL, and many deaf interpreters have staff to provide constant access.
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