gsa and your sign

language needs

*by Craig Buckstein*

The Americans with Disabilities Act,

established in 1990, states that deaf

and hard-of-hearing citizens have the

right to effective communication on the job

and in all Federal, state, and local government

agencies, including schools, hospitals, courts,

prisons, libraries, and human services

organizations. Additionally, Section 504 of the

Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended,

requires that Federal agencies provide

meaningful access for individuals with

disabilities to Federally conducted programs

and activities---this includes the general public.

To comply with these laws, Federal agencies

hire interpreters to help deaf and hard-ofhearing

people communicate. Many Federal

agencies often hire full-time interpreters. Other

government agencies hire interpreters on a

part-time or short-term basis to satisfy their

needs. Whether an occasional or full-time user

of interpretation services, every agency can

benefit by bridging the communication gap.

GSA's Language Services schedule contractors

are the best available option to help staff your

various Sign Language needs.

Federal agencies have many tools at their disposal to satisfy

Sign Language needs, which include:

> • Hiring interpreters full-time to help deaf and/or hard-ofhearing
>
> people communicate
>
> • Hiring interpreters on a part-time or short-term basis
>
> • Outsourcing their recruitment process and utilize
>
> professional language service companies on the GSA schedule.

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Outsourcing your Sign Language services to professional

Language services specialists can be an effective and efficient way to
satisfy your agency's needs. Language service companies have the
specialized knowledge and know-how to ask the questions you may not
think of and assure that the deaf clients needs are met. The agency will
optimize the interpreting sessions for the hearing and the deaf and/or
hard-of-hearing client. There are several agencies available on the GSA
schedule that are specially suited to meet your requirements, which can
be found on E-buy and are just a few clicks away.

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Interpreters in the workplace help facilitate deaf and/or hardof-
hearing employees to achieve effective communication with all employees,
supervisors, management, officials, applicants, guest speakers, and
other individuals who do not know or use Sign Language. Communication
difficulties between deaf, hardof-hearing, or deaf-blind individuals and
hearing individuals may be eased through the use of an interpreter as
well. Some hard-of-hearing people can speak and read lips or hear well
enough to communicate with little problem.

Others use Sign Language and depend on interpreters to help them
communicate with the hearing world. Interpreters for the deaf and
hard-of-hearing are the people who translate between spoken English and
Sign Language, changing a speaker\'s words into Sign Language for a deaf
audience or "voicing" a deaf person's signs for a hearing audience.

There are many factors to consider when requesting Sign

Language services:

> • What variant of Sign Language does the client use?
>
> • Are there any medical impairments that would require a specialized
> interpreter.
>
> • Is the session consecutive or simultaneous?
>
> • How many interpreters will be needed for an interpreting session?

In the United States, most interpreters for the deaf and hard-ofhearing
use American Sign Language (ASL), a unique language with a grammar and
vocabulary very different from English. Although there are many other
types of Sign Language, such as Spanish Sign Language, and Russian Sign
Language, ASL is the most widely utilized form in the U.S. Between
100,000 and 500,000 people in the U.S. use it as their primary mode of
communication.

Some interpreters, called ***transliterators***, help deaf people, who
read lips, get the full meaning of a speaker's words. When a speaker is
difficult to see, speaks quickly, or uses an unfamiliar accent, lip
readers can't easily understand the meaning of the words.
Transliterators solve this problem by mouthing the speaker's words
clearly and slowly and by communicating through Cued Speech, a system
that uses hand shapes and hand placements to represent sounds and
syllables.

As a purchaser of interpretation services, it is important to know that
there are two types of interpreting sessions: consecutive and
simultaneous. In consecutive interpretation, the interpreter has time to
process information before translating. A consecutive interpreter
listens to one person speak, or watches the person sign and, after the
speaker or "signer" finishes, the interpreter translates the
information. In simultaneous interpretation, an interpreter listens to
someone speak---or watches someone sign---and translates at the same
time. For instance, if an interpreter is simultaneously translating a
new hire orientation for deaf staff members, the interpreter must listen
to the presenter and sign as the presenter continues to speak.

For either type of interpretation it is important to realize that many
interpreting sessions that require two or more hours of interpreting
will require two or more interpreters. Studies have shown that an
interpreter's accuracy usually diminishes after working continuously for
twenty minutes or more. Interpreting sessions vary greatly and it may be
advisable to contract more than two interpreters depending on the number
of deaf and/or hard-of-hearing clients, the logistics of the assignment
and other variables.

Whether the assignment is short term or long term, a language service
agency is your best option to facilitate interpreting requests. Agencies
are aware of the various nuances and details required to fit the best
interpreter to a particular assignment. GSA Schedule language service
companies are currently working with every type of Federal agency and
are in the business of bridging the communication gap for deaf and/or
hard-of-hearing

clients.