As a result, the spoken language tends to dominate most cognitive functioning. There are also problems in the cultural identification which does not occur among hearing interpreters. Length of residence in the Deaf community is usually rather short - never more than a few hours. The opportunity for true cultural affiliation is limited. In addition, at present, there is a real danger that hearing people abdicate their responsibility to communicate with and understand, deaf people, in favour of paying an interpreter to deal with deaf people.
Interpreters become a buffer between the hearing community and the deaf community.
Yet there are virtually no checks on the performance of the interpreter by the hearing community. The onus is on deaf people to complain ie to bite the hand that feeds them. This rarely occurs. Other service development goes hand in hand with deaf awareness and more satisfaction among deaf people. Training courses for deaf people, video facilities at work and in social settings, subtitles on television are all likely to improve the profile of deaf people and to allow them more access to the hearing community.