Intermediary Interpreters for Persons with Communication Disabilities
Intermediary Interpreters for Persons with Communication Disabilities - Certified Deaf Interpreters (CDIs)
In some situations, a qualified interpreter cannot adequately meet the needs of a person with a communication disability due to the unique needs of the individual. While family members are generally not appointed as interpreters in legal settings due to potential partiality and emotional involvement, a family member (or other person) can be appointed as an “intermediary interpreter.” An “intermediary interpreter” is defined as person who, because of an intimate acquaintance with deaf, hearing impaired, or communication disabled persons who use mainly natural or unusual gestures or alternative communications devices, can act as a mediator between the person with a communication disability and the qualified interpreter.
Some deaf persons have minimal language skills (MLS) due to a lack of education, little exposure to the spoken language, or many other reasons. Individuals with MLS are not fluent in any form of sign language or spoken language and require special consideration in the court. If the MLS person does not understand the concept that a particular sign is meant to convey the method of communication is irrelevant. MLS people communicate through their own idiosyncratic gestures, which are usually unfamiliar to anyone else, except family members and other persons with whom the MLS has had substantial contact. The proper practice is to use a relayed interpretation team, requiring a hearing interpreter to pass information to an ASL-Minimal Language Skill interpreter, who then passes the information on to the deaf person. The process would be: Judge/attorney to hearing interpreter, hearing interpreter to deaf interpreter, deaf interpreter to MLS person. The interpreter may use rudimentary ASL, pantomime, drama, gestures, or other modes of visual communication.
For more information about the types in interpreting, please visit the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf's website or the Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing's website.
In some situations, a qualified interpreter cannot adequately meet the needs of a person with a communication disability due to the unique needs of the individual. While family members are generally not appointed as interpreters in legal settings due to potential partiality and emotional involvement, a family member (or other person) can be appointed as an “intermediary interpreter.” An “intermediary interpreter” is defined as person who, because of an intimate acquaintance with deaf, hearing impaired, or communication disabled persons who use mainly natural or unusual gestures or alternative communications devices, can act as a mediator between the person with a communication disability and the qualified interpreter.
Some deaf persons have minimal language skills (MLS) due to a lack of education, little exposure to the spoken language, or many other reasons. Individuals with MLS are not fluent in any form of sign language or spoken language and require special consideration in the court. If the MLS person does not understand the concept that a particular sign is meant to convey the method of communication is irrelevant. MLS people communicate through their own idiosyncratic gestures, which are usually unfamiliar to anyone else, except family members and other persons with whom the MLS has had substantial contact. The proper practice is to use a relayed interpretation team, requiring a hearing interpreter to pass information to an ASL-Minimal Language Skill interpreter, who then passes the information on to the deaf person. The process would be: Judge/attorney to hearing interpreter, hearing interpreter to deaf interpreter, deaf interpreter to MLS person. The interpreter may use rudimentary ASL, pantomime, drama, gestures, or other modes of visual communication.
For more information about the types in interpreting, please visit the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf's website or the Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing's website.