Under the law, paid interpreters now translate everything from explanations of surgical procedures to wedding vows. Employers, schools, hospitals, doctors' offices, museums and playhouses, among others, must provide interpreters on request. When reasonable requests are refused, lawsuits often follow. One by one, states are moving to require national certification. Degrees in Interpreter Education are offered at few colleges nationally.
Interpreters say the work can be rewarding.
And you know you are giving deaf people access and a voice they didn't have before. But one mistake, one wrong gesture, by an inexperienced interpreter can mean disaster. A deaf person could end up in jail or a patient could be misdiagnosed, just because an interpreter makes one error. It happens all the time. There are 419,621 hearing-impaired people in Pennsylvania, according to 1988 figures, the most recent available.