Audism Runs Amok in Hollywood!
There’s an uproar in the Deaf Community over how we were portrayed in the recent episode of ‘Cold Case’. A Deaf person murdered a cochlear implanted person over the implant. Now, I haven’t seen the episode myself, but a comment (#31) over on MishkaZena’s blog caught my attention.
This person is basically saying we’re getting upset over nothing, we’re too sensitive, being unrealistic, and s/he’s tired of listening to our complaints.
You know what? When Hollywood consistently portrays a minority in a negative light, that is an issue. The media plays a huge role in shaping public perception.
Don’t believe me? Look at how the movie “Jaws” impacted the audience’s opinion of Great White sharks. That movie barely had any grounding in reality, but after the movie’s release, the population of Great Whites actually declined and people would be more fearful of swimming in the ocean.
If it was that bad for sharks, imagine how bad it is for minorities.
Look at how Hollywood presents gays/lesbians, for instance. I cannot tell you how many people still think that all gay males are feminine or that lesbians are masculine. Where did those misconceptions come from? It obviously didn’t come solely from Hollywood and rest of the media, but it sure did play a big role.
Those minorities fought back, and no longer are the African-Americans and Native Americans being cast in such a negative light on a consistent basis. It’s slowly changing for the gay/lesbian communities as well, but it still has a while to go.
In terms of the Deaf Community, Hollywood’s recent presentation of us has been mainly negative. Those who ASL Deaf are supposedly rabid CI haters who would resort to murder to stop the spread of CIs. Give me a break! If they varied it’s portrayal of us, then I along with so many others wouldn’t be objecting to what’s going on.
What’s the Matter with Interpreters?!
Right now I should be finishing a research paper for a class, then studying for two upcoming tests this week. But I’ve just had it with incompetent interpreters and it’s not like I can insert my rant into my research paper. And so, my rant is basically this: What the heck is wrong with interpreters lately?!
Why is it that so many interpreters cannot understand fingerspelling? Now, I understand my fingerspelling isn’t the best in the world, but seriously… Do I have to give a second per letter? How slow do I have to go? I don’t have the time to be s l o w in class or in a limited time situation. I just don’t understand. Maybe I’m too hard on others when it comes to fingerspelling, because the majority of the time, I know what the word is halfway through due to context. And I don’t need the person to slooooowly fingerspell it out. What does it have to take to improve hearing people’s receptive skills?
Speaking of receptive skills, it is truly strange to me that American Sign Language seems to be the only language where students, particularly hearing students, tend to have better expressive skills than receptive skills. In every other language, it is the other way around, and if someone’s expressive skills are better than their receptive skills, usually that would be just cause for a battery of psychological and neurological tests to find out what’s wrong!
Then we have the problem of when it comes to general academic terms, many interpreters show their lack of education by not being able to interpret the concepts properly into ASL. Half of the time, they fingerspell the word when there is a sign for it, and the other half of the time, they use the wrong sign.
I actually had an interpreter this semester who signed role call instead of roll call, and the way the interpreter signed call was the sign that meant summon in English. So I’m sitting there going, “Role summon?” then a light bulb went off in my head, “Ohhhh. Roll call.”
I’m fortunate that I have a good grasp of the English language, so I’m able to compensate for the interpreter’s incompetency, but you know, it gets tiring. This is exactly why I want an interpreter who has a minimum of a Bachelor degree and a QA 3. My ideal interpreter would have a Master degree and be RID Certified. Those interpreters who have those credentials are truly the only ones who can keep up with me and appropriately voice for me, matching the register, intent and mannerisms of what I’m saying.
That interpreter who made the roll call error had a QA 2, which is the intermediate qualification an interpreter can have here in Michigan. I ended up having to fire her. I gave her ample opportunities to recuse herself and I was hoping she would just recuse herself and save us the agony of having me to fire her… but nooooo. She had to stick it out, causing me to fire her. Talk about an awkward situation.
That’s another thing I don’t understand about interpreters. Why are there so many interpreters who refuse to recuse themselves, when they know damn well that they should?! It’s part of the code of ethics, but I see so many interpreters who are out of their league, and they just stay there, and do a half-assed job. It makes the interpreter look bad, and it makes the Deaf client look bad, when the interpreter can hardly voice for the client!
Right now, I’m scratching my head, wondering how the heck those interpreters passed the QA test. Something is very wrong with the Michigan QA test. It wasn’t like this when Chris Hunter ran the Division on Deafness and Hard of Hearing. Interpreters were truly qualified… and now… they aren’t.
*sighs*
Call to Arms – Lying To Ourselves?
Deaf Education. That word carries so much meaning and controversy. A ideological war has been waged over Deaf Education for the past two hundred years. Now, I am seeing people call for arms for deaf children and babies to be given the right to access American Sign Language so that they may receive the opportunity to a good education.
By no means am I opposed to that. I am heartened to see the increasing exchange of knowledge and a growing maturity on our part. We are starting to come into our own and ensure our right to American Sign Language.
What puzzles me however, is that despite the call to arms for American Sign Language in Deaf Education, there is an eerie silence regarding North Carolina School of the Deaf. Initially there wasn’t enough information for me to throw in my support one way or another. But now, I feel that there is enough information for myself and others in the Deaf Community to support the students, parents and staff of NCSD.
Yet, I see no wide outcry of support for NCSD. I see no organizations of and for the Deaf coming in to help the students, staff and parents of NCSD. This leaves me with some difficult questions in my mind. Why is there such a loud silence? Is it because people know picketing at NCSD won’t work and they rather just picket, and nothing more?
A call to arms to me, means doing everything possible under the sun. Documenting what happens, damned the ire of others. Being not anonymous. Dealing with personal confrontations professionally and documenting it afterwards. Organizing with like-minded individuals who share your concerns and pooling together the documents. Speaking with the government about what’s going on and showing them the evidence. Helping others learn those tools. Giving support to others who need it.
It’s not glamorous. It’s not easy. It’s not something that will land you on the front page of the newspapers immediately. It’s not gonna get you on national news because there’s almost no opportunity for you to make yourself a martyr.
But the fight at NCSD and similar places goes at the core of what matters in Deaf Education. That is where the trenches are at. That is where the battles are won, and ultimately, the war. Where are we? Why are the trenches empty?
