Melanie Page

Recently, I attended a workshop hosted by Moraine Valley Community College during which the Chair and CEO of Deaf Equality, Mr. Howard Rosenblum, Esq. gave his thoughts on why the Code of Professional Conduct for interpreters needs to be updated to include tenets around online spaces. I won’t go into detail regarding Mr. Rosenblum’s presentation, but I did want to focus on one idea: basically, it’s that expression popularized during Deaf President Now, “Nothing About Us Without Us.”

When hearing interpreters write blog posts, vlog, or publish articles about the D/deaf Community, they are speaking for the D/deaf Community. I can see why that is an issue; consider any other culture for which you would not speak. It makes sense if you consider place, skin color, or language of a certain group, but not everyone believes, or is ignorant of, a Deaf culture.

When I was in an interpreter training program, my Deaf professor encouraged us to be an ally by educating hearing people about the Deaf Community, so Deaf people don’t have to do all the work themselves. We would be like worker bees contributing to hive, so to speak. But, I’m not sure the Deaf Community as a whole feels the same way. I know that if you are white and want to be an ally to the Black community, they often ask that you first educate your white family and friends before jumping in shoulder-to-shoulder with Black activists. Does the same thing apply to the Deaf community? Or does my speaking (word intended) about Deaf culture mean I’m speaking for a minority population?

Here is an example that demonstrates what I believe had a good result from my perspective. I have a friend from high school who teaches special education in a remote area of Michigan. During COVID, they could not conduct e-learning because internet isn’t widespread there — it’s that remote. I hadn’t seen him in years, but when we finally did set up a visit, I told him about what I was learning in school from my Deaf professor. My friend was under the impression that Deafness actually disabled people because they could not read past a 4th grade level. I quickly informed him that the statistic about reading at a 4th grade level is often the result of language depravation, not a sign of intelligence or potential. He was amazed and saw his Deaf students in a new light. Had I kept this information to myself, he would have continued having low expectations for Deaf children in his classroom. Could I have called a Deaf person from my area and interpreted a video call between the Deaf individual and my teacher friend? Yes, but then I’m also interrupting the Deaf person’s day, which may be their day off, time with family, a break from work, etc.

Going forward, I want to think very carefully about what I say about the Deaf community. Am I educating hearing people like me first and supporting the Deaf community in more prosperous ways? Am I speaking for a community? Am I always pointing my hearing family and friends toward Deaf-created resources? The true point of the workshop I took at which Mr. Rosenblum presented was that Deaf people often have fewer views on monetized social media accounts, are not asked to serve as consultants, are not themselves consulted on their own lives, and live below the poverty line due to opportunities taken by hearing people.