"Deaf interpreters breaking through?" - Clare Canton & Tessa Padden

Clare could unfortunately not attend, but she is the first deaf person to receive a certification in Scotland as a deaf interpreter. She is the first registered and qualified interpreter in Scotland.

SASLI received funding to train 10 apprentices and the training location was Leeds. We selected that because of the presence of a famous spoken language interpreter there The training was eight months and all finalised this programme and received a certification. Clare was the only deaf person who was in this group. The training involved several things such as translation work, conference work, etc.

At first Clare experienced that it was challenging to start actually working as a deaf interpreter, because persons were not used to work with a deaf interpreter. Clare expected that there would be more work, but it was much dependent on the persons outside who would be willing with a deaf interpreter. One of the weaknesses is that SASLI is not powerful enough to get the message across about the importance of working with a deaf interpreter, especially in mental and legal settings. It would be good if SASLI would have a policy document or guidelines that can be provided to those who are unaware of the benefits of working with a deaf interpreter.

Tessa Padden then continues to present the experiences of Pam Morgan. She has worked with deaf refugees and immigrants. Tessa Padden then quotes some other persons that have worked as deaf interpreters.

One of the projects that used deaf interpreters is BSL uptake: www.bsluptake.org.uk

It is important that deaf and hearing interpreters work together.