It's like patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time. Mark Loehr is senior experimental engineer for General Motors Corp.'s Powertrain division. He is deaf and often cannot obtain an interpreter quickly. Someone with this training would be helpful to me. Linda Booth will teach classes.
Meetings run smoother and more efficiently and there is less distraction when using an interpreter.
The state has the seventh-largest deaf community in the nation, but Michigan ranks 48th in terms of the amount of qualified sign language interpreters. The state's deaf community numbers about 250,000, about one-half of whom live in southeastern Michigan. American sign language is the third most prevalent language in America. Although schools such as Dorsey offer sign language interpreter programs, only the state can certify an interpreter. Michigan law does not require that a person be certified to be an interpreter, only that the person be qualified.