A tribute to Kathleen O'Brien - too young to die

Reposted from the KDRC's website www.kerrydeaf.com. Many thanks for this harrowing and shocking story.

This week's update is dedicated to our client and friend Kathleen O'Brien who passed away last week at the tender age of 39. She passed away peacefully after a brave battle with advanced cervical cancer.

Kathleen was Deaf and a sign language user. She had a learning disability, night-blindness, was a member of the traveller community and lived alone for many years. A couple of years ago she was attacked in her home in the middle of the night and had to live in a homeless hostel for many months. She had difficulties with literacy skills and retaining information.

However, this did not stop her from being a very well liked person. She was a regular visitor to our Centre- sometimes coming in for a chat and a cup of tea up to four times a day. She always had a smile, a wink, a nod and thumbs up for everyone she met.

Kathleen required the support of accredited sign language interpreters and Deaf advocacy services. Given her range of disabilities and challenges, you would imagine, it would have been easy for our service to get support for Kathleen? With the introduction of Equality and Disability legislation, supports would be provided with little or no trouble?

The reality was shocking!!! Kathleen attended many appointments with public services and Government bodies without any access being provided to her. When she scribbled down she wanted an interpreter, this request was ignored on many occasions.

When our service became aware of this, we began to lobby on her behalf and came up against obstacle after obstacle particularly within the Health Service Executive. It was difficult to get through to the relevant people within the HSE to arrange, sanction or book an interpreter. We were sent from pillar to post, time and time again.

As it became apparent that Kathleen was becoming unwell, Veronica White from the National Chaplaincy for Deaf People (NCDP), Deaf Advocates and freelance interpreters began to work with Kathleen. On many occasions, these people worked with Kathleen without pay.

The Medical Centre that Kathleen attended started to insist on interpreting access. When these requests were made to the HSE, it was a huge challenge to get sanctioning. We received one e-mail from the HSE asking if it was absolutely necessary for Kathleen to have interpreting access, given she had been attending many appointments on her own for many years.

Government Departments and Public Services are obligated to provide reasonable accommodation to persons with a disability. According to our Barrister, it is clear that the HSE are failing to meet their obligation under The Equal Status Acts and The Disability Acts.

As Kathleen's condition started to deteriorate, she was admitted on a number of times to hospitals in Kerry and Cork. Again, it was a huge struggle to ensure accredited interpreting and advocacy was provided for her. Our service sent e-mails, interpreting leaflets, made phone calls, and typed up a business card stating Kathleen required the services of an interpreter. Staff from our Centre, the NCDP, Cork Deaf Association and freelance interpreters began to lobby on Kathleen's behalf. Requests were ignored many times.

As the process was time consuming and very tiring, we were forced to contact the Ombudsman's Office, The Equality Authority and The Minister for Health. Independent mediation was brought in and thankfully all the necessary supports were put in place immediately.

Unfortunately for Kathleen, this support was too late. It was provided to her in her last few weeks on earth. Why wasn't this support put in place years ago?

If professionals were able to communicate effectively with Kathleen, they would have been more able to assess, diagnosed and treat her earlier. Communication is a central aspect of our daily lives. Our ability to communicate with others dictates our access to vital resources such as healthcare. According to Bagley (1998), communication underlies everything else and is the most important issue for most disabled people.

Is the difficulty of access just a Kerry based issue? Unfortunately not!! Hands On, a TV programme for the Deaf ran two programmes recently on the problems that Deaf people are facing throughout Ireland with the HSE. It's time to stop talking and time to start acting. Kathleen like many other Deaf people are not being afforded equal rights. We need equality of access for all Deaf people before anymore of them die.

In addition to communication support- why was Kathleen not given a smear test? Pre-cancerous changes that occur to cells in the cervix can be detected by means a smear test. This is the 2nd Deaf woman to die of advanced cervical cancer in Kerry in the last three years.

The Government needs to implement a national screening programme for ALL women. Deaf women are not being tested and have died as a result. How many more women need to die!!

In the end, our fight for Kathleen was worth it. Kathleen died with dignity surrounded by family and friends. We would like to thank all those who supported us in our fight for Kathleen.

We would particularly like to Veronica White, Suzanne Carey, Susan O Callaghan, Ray Greene, Willie White, Dearbhla Lenihan (Independent Mediator), the staff of the Clounalour Medical Centre, Arlington Lodge, Dr. Sheahan and all those who cared for Kathleen, Mairead Carey and to the staff of our service. We could not have provided Kathleen with the love, care and compassion she deserved without your hard work and commitment.

We would like to extend our sincere sympathies to Kathleen's family. They accepted us into their lives at a very hard and sad time. It was an honour and a privilege to work with them all. It was clear to see that Kathleen was deeply loved by all of those from the travelling community. Many of her family and friends had learnt a very unique signing system that Kathleen devised and taught them. It showed that she was a very intelligent and loyal person who had great ability to communicate with people.

It's just a shame that many of the professionals who dealt with Kathleen didn't communicate with her in her chosen language- sign language.

Kathleen was a great lady - a true inspiration and a hero. She struggled throughout her life and never lost her smile. Even in her last days, she had a smile, a wink, a nod and thumbs up for people.

We will work hard to ensure her struggle changes the lives of many people for the better. May she rest in peace xxx

MEAN^DEEP BUT DEPEND CONTEXT

Lorraine Leeson and Susan Foley-Cave (2004): 'MEAN^DEEP BUT DEPEND^SITUATION'*: Some Reflections on the Challenges of Interpreting Semantics and Pragmatics in an Irish context.

This paper challenges two related notions:(1) that interpreters are not actively involved in creating the discourse that they ‘mediate’ and (2) they are impartial with respect to both the message and the participants in an interpreted event. While much has been said regarding the myth of neutrality vis-à-vis interpreters in medical settings (Metzger 1999) and in police interviews (Wadjensjo 1998), we wish to look at the particular challenges that face interpreters in the postgraduate education environment, specifically, in a classroom dedicated to introducing topics in semantics and pragmatics.

We suggest that the challenges of discussing the semantics of one language in translation demands decision making on several levels on the part of the interpreter. We outline some of these and consider the consequences of such decisions. We also discuss the role of consultation with students and staff regarding appropriateness of message transfer and contrast the practice of active preparation, consulting and decision making both on and off task with the notion of the interpreter as mediator and impartial bystander.

Finally we suggest that while the decisions made by the interpreters in the semantics/ pragmatics classroom are influenced by a metalinguistic framework, similar decisions are made in other interpreted domains. We suggest that old, highly embedded models of interpreter as conduit continue to influence understanding of the interpreters’ role and that this needs to be challenged in order for us to come to appreciate more fully the nature of co-constructed interpreted discourse in action.

Review of Interpreting Service for Deaf People in the Northern Health and Social Services Board

This report is a product of the Northern Board’s Physical Disability and Sensory Impairment Strategy ‘New Directions: New Opportunities’. The report reviews the current arrangements for people who are deaf or hard of hearing (HOH) and who need to obtain interpreting support when accessing health and/or social care services. The report recommends how these arrangements can be improved.
Read the full report here: http://www.nhssb.n-i.nhs.uk/publications/social_services/Review_of_the_Interpreting_service_SMT_10.06.04.pdf

Exploring the research and policy gaps: A review of literature on women and disability

This report commissioned by the National Disability Authority has some interesting points about Deaf people and medical interpreting - most from outside Ireland though.

Here's Chapter 7 that deals with Communication Barriers.

National Council on INterpreting in Health Care (NCIHC)

Found a really good site on medical interpreting - mostly US-focused and about spoken language interpreting, but some great stuff nonetheless.

"The NCIHC is a multidisciplinary organization based in the United States whose mission is to promote culturally competent professional health care interpreting as a means to support equal access to health care for individuals with limited English proficiency."

Had a bad day interpreting? Awwwww. Bless. Check THIS out, whingers. :-P

"The U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan employ hundreds of interpreters to assist with its communications with the local populations. "

An armed Iraqi interpreter on patrol with U.S. troops on the streets of Baghdad, Iraq (April 2005).

I'm guessing no one has any problems with this guy when he needs to clarify something.

http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Interpreter+(spoken+language)

ITIA Paper - Interpreting, Translation and Public Bodies in Ireland: The Need for Policy and Training

Mary Phelan, "Interpreting, Translation and Public Bodies in Ireland: The Need for Policy and Training"

This is an excellent article that neatly sums up the situation in Ireland with regards to spoken language interpretation - routes to working, profile of the typical interpreter, legal rights etc.

It was released on February 2007 and is held on ITIA's website.

Highly recommended.

Interpreter Humour (No, it's not an oxymoron)

A Mafia Godfather finds out that his bookkeeper has screwed him for ten million bucks. This bookkeeper happens to be deaf, so the Godfather brings along his attorney, who knows sign language.

The Godfather asks the bookkeeper: "Where is the 10 million bucks you embezzled from me?" The attorney, using sign language, asks the bookkeeper where the 10 million dollars is hidden.

The bookkeeper signs back: "I don't know what you are talking about." The attorney tells the Godfather: "He says he doesn't know what you're talking about."

That's when the Godfather pulls out a 9 mm pistol, puts it to the bookkeeper's temple, cocks it and says: "Ask him again!" The attorney signs to the underling: "He'll kill you for sure if you don't tell him!"

The bookkeeper signs back: "OK! You win! The money is in a brown briefcase, buried behind the shed in my cousin Enzo's backyard in Queens!"

The Godfather asks the attorney: "Well, what'd he say?"

The attorney replies: "He says you don't have the guts to pull the trigger!"

Researcher would like to talk to interpreters who have worked with asylum seekers

Dear ITIA interpreters,

I am a final year student of Interpreting at the University of Mainz (FASK Germersheim) in Germany. I am currently in Dublin, researching for my final dissertation on Community Interpreting in Ireland. I am going to concentrate on interpreting for asylum seekers.

I am writing to you because I am looking for interpreters working in this field (in any language) who would like to share their experiences with me. It would be of immense interest and help for me to talk to some of you about community interpreting in Ireland in general, and especially about the area of asylum seekers.

I will be looking at the issue from all perspectives: service providers, asylum seekers, and most importantly, interpreters. I would like to find out about your experiences regarding awareness about the importance of using professional interpreters as opposed to family members, service providers' attitude towards interpreters and the use of interpreting, problems arising during the interpreting situation, your experiences regarding different authorities (immigration, health care, legal, garda, etc.), and also more general questions, for example the lack of undergraduate courses in interpreting in Ireland, and so on.

Finding out what the interpreters themselves think about the situation of community interpreting in Ireland one of the core aspects of my dissertation and I would appreciate your help very much. I can meet you whenever and wherever suits you best for a short interview. It would not take up much of your time but it would be of immense help for me.

Please contact me per e-mail ( DoertheW@hotmail.com ) or by phone (086-8924285 ) if you are interested in sharing your experiences with me.

Thank you very much for your time.

Kind regards,

Doerthe Woltermann

Time to change attitudes

Hearing children often have to take on huge tasks to help parents and siblings, reports Sheila Wayman

WHEN AMANDA Dunne was a young child, she would often pray at bedtime that she would be deaf when she woke up in the morning.

"Up to about the age of 12, I really wanted to be deaf like everyone else," she says. Her parents, Brenda and Eugene, are deaf, as is her only sibling, Darren.

From the day she was born, Dunne was learning to communicate with her immediate family through Irish Sign Language (ISL).

Having hearing grandparents helped her to pick up spoken English, although she was referred to a speech therapist when she started school: "They noticed I was not pronouncing things the right way." But she says that not all hearing children of deaf parents would have that problem.

Growing up in Rialto, Dublin, she does not believe she had a radically different childhood from her friends.

"The only thing I would have noticed was that my parents had a lot more difficulties with everyday things.

"Not through any fault of their own, but because of the attitude of the wider community."

She found it hurtful that people would presume her parents were stupid.

"It can be upsetting for a kid if people are disrespectful to your parents and if you see your parents being treated as different. It still happens today," says Dunne (26) who has just qualified as a professional ISL interpreter after a two-year course at Trinity College.

As the only hearing member of the family, she was inevitably called on as a child to interpret using ISL for her parents, sometimes in far from appropriate circumstances.

It was not that her parents wanted her to do it, but often there was no choice.

At school in Loreto Crumlin, she turned this to her advantage at parent-teacher meetings.

"When the teacher said 'Amanda is not being very good', I'd say: 'She says I'm great.' They copped on to that soon enough."

As an adult, it can still be difficult. At the end of last year, her father had a heart attack at home, and was admitted to hospital for a week.

"I was pulled in to interpret for him," she says, and the medical staff did not seem to consider for a moment that it might not be appropriate to use his daughter, who was going through her own emotions.

"I was all over the place. I never thought to ask for an interpreter," she says.

But she finds it "really infuriating" that hospitals will provide interpreters of foreign languages, but are very reluctant to pay for ISL interpreters. If a deaf person asks for an interpreter, she says, the attitude is "they are Irish, can't they write it down?"

Willy White, a hearing son of two deaf parents, says he and his five siblings had to communicate on their parents' behalf when growing up in Tralee, Co Kerry, more than 30 years ago. At that time there were no ISL interpreters around.

"As a child you took on responsibility at a very early age. It was a burden you are socially and linguistically not equipped to carry," says White, who is an ISL interpreter.

He set up the Kerry Deaf Resource Centre in 1999 when, despite the legislative improvements for the deaf community through the Equal Status Act and Disability Act, there was very little happening on the ground.

"I wanted to change that," he says.

White believes there is still a lack of awareness of the obligation to provide support for deaf people.

He was talking to a neurosurgeon recently who thought it was "brilliant" that the seven-year-old child of a deaf patient was able to come in and interpret through ISL.

"You can't have a seven-year-old child interpreting at a neurosurgical appointment," says White. "And this is an intelligent guy. There is a naivety out there in many ways."

Tue, Sep 02, 2008. © 2008 The Irish Times

Only 25% of firms take on disabled graduates

JUST ONE-in-four businesses employs a graduate with a disability, a new survey has found. This is despite the number of third-level students with a disability having tripled in the last 12 years, the Association for Higher Education Access and Disability (Ahead) revealed yesterday.

Half of the 300 employers surveyed by TNS/MRBI had interviewed a candidate with a disability. However, almost three-quarters of employers believed a job candidate should tell an employer if they had a disability.

Three-quarters of employers had not had any disability training, and 45 per cent did not understand that reasonable accommodation can include the use of a sign-language interpreter.

"Employers fear some sort of reprisal if they 'get it wrong' when recruiting or employing a graduate with disabilities," said Ann Heelan, executive director of Ahead. "They are worried about legislation, their own knowledge of disabilities and how to manage them, and productivity levels," she added.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008 © 2008 The Irish Times

2003 Special Olympics: Deaf people’s group criticises facilities at Games

Thursday, June 26, 2003 :

A DEAF people’s group has harshly criticised the organisers of the Special Olympics for not doing enough to cater for their needs in the opening ceremony.

The Irish Deaf Society said the provision of a designated box area with a sign language interpreter for the duration of the ceremony was only agreed at short notice and was really a half-measure.

The society’s administrator, Cormac Leonard, said he was hoping mistakes made by the organising committee would be corrected in time for the closing ceremony on Sunday night.

Special Olympics spokesperson, Julian Davis, said they had all major speeches signed on the screen behind the stage. Signing of the music and any other words spoken was available within two of the corporate boxes if needed. A fax and mobile number was given out for anyone who wanted to have sign interpretation throughout the entire three-hour event. Mr Davis said six people availed of the service.

The Irish Deaf Society had accepted the arrangement as a good solution but complained that it segregated them from the rest of the 75,000 spectators.

Mr Davis said they had tried to cater for everybody but it was not possible to have a perfect solution for every situation.

Mr Davis said he had originally thought that they could have 100% signing on the stage and that this would be satisfactory but that proved not to be the case.

http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2003/06/26/story915562675.asp

Lisa Dunne - ISL Interpreter in Irish Independent

Two worlds collide: A wider knowledge of sign language would make life a whole lot easier for the thousands of profoundly deaf people in this country

By Sue Leonard, Irish Independent, Monday September 01 2008

(Click above link for all the article)

...Lisa Dunne, 24, doesn't remember when she realised that her family was 'different'. An only child of deaf parents, known as a CODA, Lisa was always mixing with her extended family, many of whom are also deaf.

"My dad has two deaf brothers," says Lisa. "One has two children, one is deaf and one hearing, and the other brother has seven children, two hearing and five deaf. We are all very close."
Lisa used sign language to communicate with her parents. She learned it from them naturally, but was it tough, having to do all the talking for her parents?

"Being between the two worlds, these worlds that did not 'get' each other, could be hard," she says. "You are a kind of mediator. It was difficult sometimes, but it wasn't traumatic. I just went with it.

"It's not a strain at the time, but it can be inappropriate," she says. "I would have known bank and insurance details, and my parent's medical details. It is better, if possible, that parents do not always rely on a child to interpret. But often they don't have a choice."

After a year at college studying International Event Management, Lisa realised that the career was not for her. So she studied ISL at Trinity College Dublin, gaining an accreditation to work for a government agency as a freelance sign-language interpreter.

Rewarding
"I love my job," she says. "It takes me everywhere in the country. I might be at a business meeting, at a conference, or in a college signing to a deaf student from the front of the lecture hall," she says.

"It can be rewarding, but some deaf people go through hard times. And because we have to be neutral, there is not a lot we can do at the time. That can be frustrating."
What was it like, though, being brought up in a quiet home?

"Well we still had rows," she says. "We'd become really animated. The best thing, though, was when my friends stayed over. If we came in late we could make as much noise as we liked. My house was really popular!" she laughs.

- Sue Leonard

Interpreting for the IDS Thailand Trek

At the risk of blowing my own trumpet, here's an article from the Fingal Independent about the Irish Deaf Society Thailand trek on which I was one of the interpreters. (Oh, also, i didn't tell them i was a 'deaf interpreter'!)

There are also lots of other accounts of the Trek in the most recent Irish Deaf News.

More Resources for Interpreters

Found two new internet resources to do with interpreting.

Interpreter Training Resources: The only dedicated site for students of conference interpreting is a good site, primarily geared towards spoken language conference interpreting but also maybe of interest if interpreter training is your bag.

ProZ.com: The Translation Workplace is again a site more geared towards translators of spoken language and requires a lot of entry of your own info before you can get started but if you're looking to achieve a higher worldwide profile for yourself or your agency - give it a try.

The translation workplace

Arranging for Sign Language Interpretation Abroad: A Disability Service Provider Perspective

Disability services offices across the [USA] are asking themselves whether or not to provide accommodations for Deaf students who hope to travel abroad through educational exchange programs. After the U.S Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) ruled that Arizona State University did not have to provide interpreter services for a Deaf student who wanted to attend University College in Cork, Ireland, in January 2002, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported, “Advocates for students with disabilities say the decision… could cause some colleges to begin denying many students accommodations when they want to study overseas.”*. However, the Arizona case remains one ruling among several regarding overseas accommodations, leaving the educational community with lingering questions.

Read the rest of this article here or here.

Irish Times - Deaf woman contests jury exclusion

Deaf woman contests jury exclusion


A DEAF mother of two has brought a landmark legal action against the Courts Service and the State challenging her exclusion from jury service on grounds of her deafness.

Joan Clarke says she should not be deemed ineligible for jury service merely because she is deaf, and that any such exclusion is discriminatory and in breach of various provisions of the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003.

She wants to perform “this important civic duty” on the same basis as everyone else and was frustrated at not being allowed to when she was summoned for jury service before Galway Circuit Court in April 2006 but was subsequently excused from serving, apparently on grounds of her deafness, Ms Clarke said.

She is entitled to be facilitated to serve on a jury by means of a sign language interpreter, she contends. Gerard Hogan SC, for Ms Clarke, argued the fact she is deaf should not mean she is automatically excluded from jury service and there was no justification for such a blanket exclusion.

The real issue, under the Juries Act 1976, is whether she is “incapable” of serving and that issue should be decided judicially in open court and not decided administratively, he said.
Ms Clarke, identified as a homemaker, of Hassling, Athenry Road, Loughrea, Co Galway, and her husband were in court yesterday for the opening of her action before Mr Justice Daniel O’Keeffe.

The proceedings were signed for Ms Clarke and other deaf persons in court by two sign language interpreters.

The case has been brought against the Galway County Registrar, the Courts Service, Ireland and the Attorney General, with the Human Rights Commission as a notice party.

Ms Clarke is represented by the Free Legal Advice Centres. In opposing the action, the State denies the claims of unconstitutionality or breaches of the ECHR Act 2003. It says that, under the Juries Act, Ms Clarke is ineligible for jury service due to the “permanent infirmity of deafness” and denies that Ms Clarke is entitled to have appropriate arrangements made to accommodate her deafness and enable her serve as a juror.

Among other arguments, the State contends the presence of a sign language interpreter in a jury room would breach the “absolute confidentiality” of jury discussions.

In an affidavit on behalf of Ms Clarke, Evelyn Conroy, chairwoman of the Irish Association of Sign Language Interpreters, said all practising interpreters must be members of that body, which has a code of practice and of ethics.



Judgment reserved in deaf woman's challenge to State's bar on jury duty

THE HIGH Court has reserved judgment on a landmark legal challenge by a deaf mother of two to her being excused from jury service apparently on grounds of her deafness.

Joan Clarke says she should not be deemed ineligible for jury service merely because she is deaf and that any such exclusion is discriminatory and in breach of various provisions of the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) Act 2003.

The real issue, under the Juries Act 1976, is whether she is “incapable” of serving and that issue should be decided judicially in open court and not decided administratively, she said.

Ms Clarke says she wants to perform “this important civic duty” on the same basis as everyone else and was frustrated at not being allowed to when summoned for jury service before Galway Circuit Court in April 2006, but was subsequently, against her wishes, excused from serving apparently on grounds of her deafness. She is entitled to be facilitated to serve on a jury by means of a sign language interpreter, she claims.

Ms Clarke, a homemaker, Ashlawn, Athenry Road, Loughrea, Co Galway, has been deaf since birth. Her husband is also deaf and they have two hearing children.

Represented by the Free Legal Advice Centres, she brought her action against the Galway County Registrar, the Courts Service and the State with the Human Rights Commission as a notice party.

The three-day hearing concluded this week before Mr Justice Daniel O’Keeffe who reserved his decision.

The proceedings were signed for Ms Clarke and other deaf persons in court by two sign language interpreters.

The State has denied the claims of unconstitutionality or breaches of the ECHR Act 2003. It argued that, under the Juries Act, Ms Clarke is ineligible for jury service due to the “permanent infirmity of deafness” and denies that Ms Clarke is entitled to have appropriate arrangements made to accommodate her deafness and enable her serve as a juror.