Signer or Interpreter

There is a difference between being a Signer and being a Sign Language Interpreter. “Interpreting should be left up to the professionals. A well-meaning but unqualified signer may unintentionally harm deaf and hearing people.”(1) Guess which one I am.
A Signer:
- Knows sign language but may not be fluent.
- Is able to communicate his/her own thoughts.
- [...]

Bringing Two Worlds Together

The main reason I started this blog was to help my friends and family understand what it’s like for me and for my husband as we work together to bring his Deaf World and my Hearing World together. Perhaps it will help others who wish to develop better communication and understanding of people they know [...]

Flashing Lights and Smoke Detectors

The first morning after my husband and I were married I was awakened at 5:00 a.m. to this bright light flashing in my face. Steve was unaware that the alarm also buzzed loudly. I nearly fell out of bed when that thing went off. We no longer use an alarm because we now have cats [...]

Cochlear Implant

One of my husband’s dreams for several years of his life was to receive a cochlear implant, but the cost for such an operation made it impossible for him. When he moved to Utah, the university hospital was able to have most of the cost covered by Medicare.
The doctor warned him that because of his [...]

Interpreting

I took a beginning Sign Language class at the Deaf Center one time. The instructor was deaf, some students were deaf and some were hearing. The first thing the teacher did was write on the board in large capital letters, “NO TALKING”. The best way to learn sign is to not talk and emmerse yourself [...]

Deaf Relay

Deaf Relay is when a deaf person can talk to a hearing person on the telephone using a TTY operator as the interpreter. The deaf person types his message on his TTY, the operator receives the message on his/her TTY, and voices the message to the hearing person. The hearing person speaks to the operator, [...]