The post Unveiling of SignTalkers in Israel! appeared first on Signtalk Foundation.

Ready to see the power of visual poetry change the world? From Australia to Norway and now to Israel, Douglas Ridloff continues to show the Deaf community the richness and creativity of sign language.

Want to see Doug live in Jerusalem? Get your tickets now for his May performance! http://bit.ly/RidloffTix

The post Want to see Douglas Ridloff live in Jerusalem? appeared first on Signtalk Foundation.

The play is the story of a Hans a Deaf political prisoner who struggles to survive in Sachsenhausen and later in the Auschwitz concentration camp.

This original production by Teater Manu, an award-winning NationalDeaf Theater in Oslo, has toured extensively across Norway and abroad. With four of Norway’s most dynamic actors, it is performed in both ASL and English.

The post SignTalk Foundation Sponsors Theatre Manu’s Crying Hands appeared first on Signtalk Foundation.

The post SignTalk Foundation Sponsors Doug Ridloff’s Grand Vienna TEDx Tour appeared first on Signtalk Foundation.

The post The Child Within Us: A Meaningful Life Lesson from Dr. Geliebter appeared first on Signtalk Foundation.

The post Doug Ridloff Elevates Signing to a Higher Art appeared first on Signtalk Foundation.

Lauren does not cease to impress all for being on the forefront of empowering and advocating for the signing community. Congratulations, Lauren, on your SignTalk Award, and we can’t wait to see you on The Walking Dead! Rumor has it that her first appearance will be on Sunday, October 28th.

The post Lauren Ridloff, Tony Nominated Deaf Actress Receives SignTalk Award appeared first on Signtalk Foundation.

The post Lauren Ridloff Receives the 2018 Outstanding Achievement Award from SignTalk Foundation appeared first on Signtalk Foundation.

What’s the best story on Broadway? Consider this: At age 40, Lauren Ridloff, a stay-at-home mom with no professional theater experience ever, and who is deaf, was offered a starring role.

“Is there a part of you that still can’t quite believe it’s real?” asked Wax.

Joshua Jackson and Lauren Ridloff in “Children of a Lesser God.” Photo by Matthew Murphy

“A part of me? No, all of me!” she laughed.

And Ridloff put all of herself into the performance in the revival of “Children of a Lesser God.” She plays Sarah, a cleaning woman at a school for the deaf who falls in love with an able-hearing teacher, played by Joshua Jackson.

When asked how unusual Ridloff’s story is in the business. Jackson said, “Oh, she’s a one of one. She is a totally unique woman, person, mother, and now actor.”

Ridloff was born deaf to hearing parents. As a child, she worked on using her voice to speak, but spending time at a camp with kids and counselors who communicated only with sign language, led to an awakening, as Lauren told Wax through her interpreter, Candace Broker Penn:
“And for the first time, I never had to use my voice to communicate clearly with anyone. And I realized I could speak without thinking so much about how to say what I had to say.

“So, when I got back home, I really told my family, in a sense I ‘came out’ to my family. I said, ‘I’m not going to use my voice anymore.’ And my family accepted that, and accepted who I was.”

She was asked, “Does this feel like a dream? “It’s a wonderful dream!” she replied.

To see the interview with Lauren, please see CBS News’ full article at https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tony-nominee-lauren-ridloff-children-of-a-lesser-god/

The post Tony nominee Lauren Ridloff, star of the best story on Broadway appeared first on Signtalk Foundation.

The argument revolved around the question of whether this woman was a fake interpreter, as stated in many headlines reporting the story, or merely a bad interpreter, unqualified for the job and in over her head. While some insisted that she was a fake interpreter with a criminal record for stealing funds designated for children with disabilities, I maintained that it seemed implausible that she could benefit—financially or otherwise—from posing as an interpreter, for which she would not be paid. Some suggested her goal was to gain clout and recognition for interpreting at such a public and important event, but I maintained that she would inevitably be outed as incompetent, so how could her taking a role she could not proficiently fulfill would be to her advantage?

Some comments stated that it did not matter whether she was a fake interpreter or a bad interpreter, because the result was the same: she denied communication access to Deaf viewers and her actions were wrong, and possibly criminal.

While I certainly agree that the result is the same, whether she was a fake interpreter or a bad interpreter does in fact matter, because the causes of the infraction are different, as are the remedies.

Fake interpreters indicate a security problem. Case in point: Thamsanqa Jamtjie, the man who claimed to be an interpreter at Nelson Mandela‘s funeral in South Africa. He should never have been allowed on the stage with world leaders. Not only were Deaf attendees denied full access to the program, the safety of many heads of state was compromised. The solution here is more extensive background checks and checkpoints for those who wish to gain entry to the event.

I believe a greater threat to communication access and the integrity of our profession is the bad interpreter. In states without licensure, anyone can print up business cards stating that he is an interpreter, and agencies with lax hiring procedures and no skilled screeners on staff will hire these people, sending them into the community to do untold damage. Bad interpreters do not consider if they have the requisite skills or knowledge base for a given assignment. They do not have a commitment to the Deaf or interpreting communities, and they rely on the fact that many agencies and hiring institutions cannot evaluate their skills (or the lack there of). Agencies that do not solicit feedback from their consumers, and workplaces that do not ask their Deaf employees for their interpreter preferences, create opportunities for bad interpreters to continue working.

Fake interpreters seek to defraud the public. Bad interpreters seek to earn a living with minimal training and no commitment to skill development. But bad interpreters get work, and consumers suffer the consequences. They cannot be weeded out with background checks and fingerprinting.

Simply requiring certification is not a solution. Pre-certified interpreters are qualified to work in some settings—it’s necessary to their preparation for certification that they work for real-world assignments, albeit with the supports and preparation necessary for them to succeed. In addition, certified interpreters are not qualified for every job, and it’s the duty of each individual professional, and those who hire us, to gauge one’s competence for any individual assignment.

Lastly, bad interpreters can get better. Fake interpreters cannot. I have been a bad interpreter. I still have days when I’m unexpectedly in over my head. Perhaps it’s our duty as a profession to reach out to the bad interpreters with empathy, to draw them in rather than shun them, and help them become good, ethical, qualified colleagues.

The post The Imposter Interpreter: How Should the Profession Respond? appeared first on Signtalk Foundation.