Why Interpreters Ask for the Slides
Recently I had a question from a hearing consumer I work with. Why do you need to sign what's on the slides?
ASL Interpreters do not have every single sign for any topic just logged in their brain. One thing we do is look up signs we don't know or don't use often.
The next thing is prediction. When a speaker is presenting, they have specific goals in mind and points they are driving home. I can't interpret for meaning if I don't know the meaning.
Which leads to the next point: ASL interpretation is not a word-for-sign process. We break down the ideas and concepts and interpret them from a spoken language to a visual language.
Semi-related: Why do we sign what's on the slides? The short answer is we don't always. If the client is well educated and reads well, oftentimes the client will say "Oh you don't need to interpret the video, I'll just read the captions". However, some ASL users are not fully fluent in reading English and ASL is their first language. Sight translation (translating written English to ASL) is the most effective method for full understanding.
Part of our job is educating the hearing consumers. Questions like these start important conversations to bridge two worlds.
Further reading:
Photo by Yan Krukau
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