Interpreting: Deaf Interpreter

DI as Certified Profession

Professional status for DIs was not considered until the late 1980s in the United States as new legislation mandated communication accessibility in legal and medical services. This increased the need for DIs to ensure effective communication with Deaf consumers who use idiosyncratic signs and gestures or who are semilingual, or even monolingual in some cases. Practitioners in the field of signed language interpreting began to realize the importance of having DIs for many interpreting situations when hearing interpreters have difficulty in performing their task for a number of reasons, especially when handling a semilingual individual. Teaming the hearing interpreter with a DI increases the quality of interpretation and ensures clear communication for all parties involved. This does not translate necessarily to the idea that hearing interpreters are less competent. The population of hearing interpreters is unique in the realm of professional interpreting because at least 90% of them are non-native users of signed language. This model of teaming is used to provide native-like fluency skills from a Deaf individual coupled with a hearing interpreter who generally has fewer years of ASL fluency development. In 1998, a formal certification for DIs—Certified Deaf Interpreter (CDI)—was added by RID. Since 2000, there has been an increasing acceptance and understanding of the role DIs can perform. There is a general assumption that the role of a DI is multifaceted but not limited to “language facilitator” or a “shadowing” interpreter. There are six main areas of Deaf Interpreting: (1) Bilingual interpreting between two signed languages, (2) Semilingual interpreting, (3) Deaf-Blind interpreting, (4) International signs interpreting, (5) Shadowing interpreting, and (6) Translation.

Bilingual Interpreting