What is the future demand for interpreting and video relay services going to look like? Will it stay the same, increase, or decline? Some parents of implanted kids are saying that their children can hear so well they don't even need to look at faces. Often, the media articles about implanted kids say that they are able to attend school without interpreters. Articles about implanting often mention the money that can be saved by not having to provide services like interpreting.
Therefore, how is the growth of cochlear implants in the young going to affect the future level of demand for interpreting services if the children hear so well they don't need interpreters? I foresee a decline in employment opportunities for interpreters, and a shrinking of video relay services.
I had a disagreement with an interpreter at work about this. The interpreter said she thought demand would stay the same or increase. However, another interpreter said she was learning oral interpreting skills just in case.
What do you think? Is the future for the interpreting profession a bright one, or is it one of reduced demand as the next generation comes of age?
Saturday, October 13, 2007
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12 comments:
I do wonder.
I know some C.I. kids who need the services of CART for noisy classrooms, but they don't lipread nor use sign language. If the C.I. kids are never trained to lipread in the first place, they won't need the services of oral interpreters, either.
However, there is still a big range of results and quite few C.I. kids are ending in Deaf schools. So the results don't appear as rosy as the C.I. industry paints it to be, but not as disastrous as some Deaf people paint it, either.
The claims of the news articles may reflect exaggerated claims by anxious parents and CI manufacturers. To date there is no evidence that the CI approximates normal hearing or that CI wearers are able to function fully in everyday situations such as school or meetings.
Interpreters will always be needed, whether they are oral or ASL or Signed English interpreters.
If the day comes when the CI's are so perfected that no auxiliary services are ever needed, then we can begin to evaluate the interpreter need. That won't be for at least another generation, however. The majority of today's Deaf people still need interpreters.
Let's take a look at Sweden.
All the CI implantees have to learn sign language. Even the parents.
California's team of 6 are heading to Sweden to look at their education system (they aren't maintreamed same way it is in USA).
Quality of education there is much higher overall. No wonder the Swedish Deaflympicians were quite fluent and very socially unlike half of USA's own hockey team, some who have implants and don't sign.
Again, this has me wonder about the claims by those in USA and we don't hear complaints about implants in Sweden but plenty in USa and Great Britain.
I am certain that more and more Ci kids are going bilateral, which dramatically reduces the need for assistive listening devices, even in noisy classrooms. So many of the parents on the Ci forum report their kids in mainstream schools, doing as well if not better academically than their peers. I don't think it bodes well for interpreters, or ASL in general.
I understand that there is a shortage of terps in my area anyway.
It s possible that the demand for interpreting and video relay services could decrease in the future since the number of CI kids keeps growing larger every year but what about those who are hard of hearing? I think some of HOH kids may not have the full hearing like CI kids do and may still need interpreters. I am not exactly familiar with HOH but I do know that today's CI does give nearly normal hearing for most of those who received them at much younger ages with appropriate training. My profoundly deaf child could hear well with CI and is in process of picking up spoken language while using ASL.
Maybe the CART services will increase for both CI and HOH people. To be honest, as a Deaf professional, I would like the CART better than an ASL interpreter esp. at my workplace because it would give me a lot more accurate info. on my technical work.
Interpreters know they are a "neccesary evil," and in most situations not looked on with kindness. It is incredible the amount of trust that is placed in interpreters. Even though it's a paycheck, we all hope for a world where we won't be needed. It's okay if this is the last great generation of interpreters.
"The report of my death has been grossly exaggerated." -- Mark Twain
For generations, since the infamous Milan Convention, ignorant Hearing people have been predicting the end of ASL and the disappearance of Deafness. The latest twist, of course has been from the multi-million dollar cochlear implant industry, bribing naive parents into donating their deaf babies to science with promises of "curing" the dreaded disease of DEAFNESS. CI's do not "cure" anything (except poverty for the purveyors of this lie). Parents who claim their formerly deaf offspring are now hearing everything from mosquitoes buzzing to the intricacies of a symphony orchestra are only deluding themselves. Like every other generation of Deaf children, this one will ultimately realize their folly, and learn to accept themselves as Deaf human beings.
I was struck reading of the research done at MIT on the cochlea, and functioning of the inner ear... Scientists are realizing that the cochlea is much more than electrical impulses stimulating the 8th nerve (passageway to the brain). What this probably means is that, in the years ahead people who have had their cochleas DESTROYED by implants will not be able to benefit from rehabilitation or other "fixes" for the inner ear - they may find they have become the DEAFEST of all!! How ironic...
I wouldn't advise interpreters to seek other lines of employment just yet, nor would I encourage the abolition of ASL (as if it could ever happen)!! The more we try to "fix" deafness, the more we will realize how amazing and wonderful the ears are, and how adaptable ASL has been for people who are not burdened with an ocean of sounds every day...
Long live ASL!!!
Hmmm... my 5th grade son has an interpreter and uses CART only for one subject (social studies) to prepare for middle schools where notetaking occurs. His terp uses both hats... interpreting most of the day and uses CART for one subject... it is called Field Area Interpreter.
Again CART is an excellent equipment for students who have excellent English skills... and the field area interpreters should be trained to work with CART.
Plus my son who is deaf, uses FM and has excellent lipreading skills so he can watch both CART's screen and teachers at the same time easily. Yup, he has excellent auditory skills, and it is a challenge for him in the noisy classrooms. That is when the interpreters come in handy... it depends on what subjects he'd need an interpreter and CART.
As a hearing person, I might add my little Canadian 2-cent.
Besides deaf and CI persons, there are hearing persons who are *also* learning ASL! For many reasons.
So, I don't see any shortage of signers.
Since ancient times there have been interpreters, translating from one language (and culture) to another.
ASL is a language in its own right and its culture rich and vibrant. It is nowhere near extinct.
Therefore the need for interpreters will always be there, that's what I think.
-E
PS: On a related topic, one of these days, VRS will become a reality in Canada (I keep reminding my deaf friends in the US how *lucky* they are! Full-scale VRS is still a dream here!).
So sooner or later, I predict there will be a severe shortage of interpreters, just to meet the Canadian demand. We might even go south of our border and "borrow" some American interpreters to our country. :) -E
Until CI improves drastically compared to now, I doubt the need for interpreters will decline. Many HOH individuals who uses phones and are able to communicate with hearing one on one flawlessly, still need interpreters in a group setting or certain environment. Until CI offers implantee 24/7 PERFECT hearing, then, we can start to see how it will affect interpreting as a whole because we don't know how many people will actually decide to go that route.
Time will tell.
At this point, the need for interpreters have increased due to many interpreters switching over to call centers to support VRS. Now, there is a major shortage for interpreters for schools, medical appointments and courts. I'm already seeing this shortage and it 's not good.
CI is just another hearing aid. When the first hearing aids were on the market all the Deaf people turned into so called hearing imparied people. That did not work. CI works on some and CI is not working on some. The hearing world wants to think it works on all Deaf children. A child that is Deaf with a chochelar implant is still a Deaf child with a choclear implant. Not providing Sign Language studies to a Deaf child with Choclear Impant is to denying them their human rights. There is never going to be a threat to the Deaf community or to the Interpreting Community. I interpret or provide C-print to a lot of CI people. They are still Deaf even if they can "hear". When they can translant the human ear that is the time to worry.
margurite
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