Archived How to react when you encounter deaf or HoH guests.

[shortstuffishere]

I'm fluent in ASL, PSE, and somewhat SEE, as I went through an interpreter training program at a local college. (I just need one more class befor my AAS-t and then go for my bachelors) My name badge says my name and 'I Sign' on it. HR ordered it for me. 🙂 Just remember the hoh and D/deaf community is small and they as long as you treat them with respect they'll treat them with the same respect as you. Paper and pencil is fine.

 

[redeye58]

We have maybe three people in my entire store that sign; one is ON.
I know I had a fair amount of HoH regulars at my counter.

 

[Red Buffalo]

I'm fluent in ASL, PSE, and somewhat SEE, as I went through an interpreter training program at a local college. (I just need one more class befor my AAS-t and then go for my bachelors) My name badge says my name and 'I Sign' on it. HR ordered it for me. 🙂 Just remember the hoh and D/deaf community is small and they as long as you treat them with respect they'll treat them with the same respect as you. Paper and pencil is fine.

I agree, respect is definitely number one. I mostly made the first post to give people some good info expanding upon the basics like being being polite and respectful.

 

[commiecorvus]

I work with the deaf and HOH every day.
They have a lot of patience with my lack of signing skills which mostly consist of 'I don't know ASL" and "I will get the interpreter."
A smile goes a long way and for the lip readers speaking with intent (not loudly) makes a big difference.
Great thread.

 

[shortstuffishere]

I agree, respect is definitely number one. I mostly made the first post to give people some good info expanding upon the basics like being being polite and respectful.

I totally agree with you. I'm a cashier and other co workers have asked me how to do basic signs. It never hurts. And learning another language is alot of fun.

 

[oath2order]

We have a deaf coworker. She works in the backroom.

 

[Red Buffalo]

I'm fluent in ASL, PSE, and somewhat SEE, as I went through an interpreter training program at a local college. (I just need one more class befor my AAS-t and then go for my bachelors) My name badge says my name and 'I Sign' on it. HR ordered it for me. 🙂 Just remember the hoh and D/deaf community is small and they as long as you treat them with respect they'll treat them with the same respect as you. Paper and pencil is fine.

Kind of off topic, but is there ever a situation where you would need to interpret in SEE? The only one I can think of might be for a young deaf child that attends a school where they teach using SEE, but I may be wrong.

 

[Ringwraith917]

We just hired a deaf TM at my store. They called me up to help with the interview because I'm learning ASL. Ha, I felt so inadequate. I did manage to find out what interpreter service the person has used in the past. Turns out Target has a contract with the same company to provide interpreters for deaf applicants, and for the first day or two of training. I felt bad though cause management was super unprepared.

 

[commiecorvus]

Kind of off topic, but is there ever a situation where you would need to interpret in SEE? The only one I can think of might be for a young deaf child that attends a school where they teach using SEE, but I may be wrong.

Our interpreter has her own personal feelings about SEE which involve a few signs that I do know but only because those tend to be the first ones most people learn.

 

[commiecorvus]

We just hired a deaf TM at my store. They called me up to help with the interview because I'm learning ASL. Ha, I felt so inadequate. I did manage to find out what interpreter service the person has used in the past. Turns out Target has a contract with the same company to provide interpreters for deaf applicants, and for the first day or two of training. I felt bad though cause management was super unprepared.

The should have called DVR, there's a good chance they could have gotten an interpreter out there.

 

[Red Buffalo]

Our interpreter has her own personal feelings about SEE which involve a few signs that I do know but only because those tend to be the first ones most people learn.

Ah, gotchya. I can't imagine having to interpret something like a speech or some kind of training in SEE. I'd probably sleep incredibly well that night lol.

 

[Bosch]

Question! I know ASL but what is SEE?

I don't know so I ask.

 

[Red Buffalo]

Question! I know ASL but what is SEE?

I don't know so I ask.

SEE is Signed Exact English

 

[commiecorvus]

Question! I know ASL but what is SEE?

I don't know so I ask.

Signing Exact English.

They take bits and pieces of ASL then sign all of the letters of the words.
Wall would the ASL part of wall with the hand spell of wall included.
The grammar and syntax is pretty much the same though.

 

[Red Buffalo]

Signing Exact English.

They take bits and pieces of ASL then sign all of the letters of the words.
Wall would the ASL part of wall with the hand spell of wall included.
The grammar and syntax is pretty much the same though.

It uses English syntax and sentence structure which is fairly different from ASL and requires a lot more signs since almost every word has it's own sign.

 

[signingminion]

We have one deaf flow tm, he's awesome. We stopped printing and posting survery responses after some asshat guest tried to get his attention from behind him and was embarassed when he turned around and she realized he was deaf. She wanted us to figure out a way to "label him so guests know he can't hear them or speak clear english"

I learned ASL alphabet back in middle school for a deaf student. Never had the time to go further but I can still spell pretty quick. Plus I do actually always carry a notepad and pen, plus my phone.

 

[Red Buffalo]

ASL relies heavily on context to fill in blanks to know which form of a word they using the sign for. For instance, when I worked in auto maintenance some years ago, I had a regular customer come in who was deaf. One time I found feathers stuck in the grill on his very big truck. When I asked him what happened he signed that he hit a chicken. I signed back that didn't know chickens could jump that high. I had no idea that the signs for chicken and bird are the same.😕 But that gives a good reference to show how it relies on context lol. In SEE there are different signs for every meaning of a word.

 

[Red Buffalo]

We have one deaf flow tm, he's awesome. We stopped printing and posting survery responses after some asshat guest tried to get his attention from behind him and was embarassed when he turned around and she realized he was deaf. She wanted us to figure out a way to "label him so guests know he can't hear them or speak clear english"

I learned ASL alphabet back in middle school for a deaf student. Never had the time to go further but I can still spell pretty quick. Plus I do actually always carry a notepad and pen, plus my phone.

Wow, it baffles me how awful some people are.

 

[Bosch]

We have one deaf flow tm, he's awesome. We stopped printing and posting survery responses after some asshat guest tried to get his attention from behind him and was embarassed when he turned around and she realized he was deaf. She wanted us to figure out a way to "label him so guests know he can't hear them or speak clear english"

I learned ASL alphabet back in middle school for a deaf student. Never had the time to go further but I can still spell pretty quick. Plus I do actually always carry a notepad and pen, plus my phone.

What a bitch..

And to everyone who answered my question, Thank You. 🙂

 

[Coqui]

I learned a little ASL from a former FATM that had a son who was born deaf. I was always interested in learning so she was happy when I asked her. She opened my eyes to things that she called "the deaf culture". It was very eye opening.

 

[Red Buffalo]

I learned a little ASL from a former FATM that had a son who was born deaf. I was always interested in learning so she was happy when I asked her. She opened my eyes to things that she called "the deaf culture". It was very eye opening.

Oh yeah, there is quite a bit of interesting aspects to deaf culture. I especially like their idioms and storytelling plays a pretty big role.

 

[commiecorvus]

It uses English syntax and sentence structure which is fairly different from ASL and requires a lot more signs since almost every word has it's own sign.

Thanks.
That explains some of the other issues our interpreter was having.
Hate passing on bad info.

 

[Red Buffalo]

Thanks.
That explains some of the other issues our interpreter was having.
Hate passing on bad info.

You're welcome 🙂 Interpreters will always have some issues I think, especially with ASL to English and vice versa because of the heavy usage of Pidgin (PSE)/Contact Signing which is really just a common middle ground between ASL and English/SEE that exists purely to bridge the gap between ASL and English/SEE. PSE isn't even technically a legitimate language, more of a melding of two languages that makes it easier for the two to understand each other. If I'm not mistaken, the biggest issues arise when someone speaking English is using very specific technical jargon about something. Technical terms don't always have a solid ASL translation and instead require SEE in order to translate which the interpreter may or may not have a lot of knowledge on.

 

[shortstuffishere]

Kind of off topic, but is there ever a situation where you would need to interpret in SEE? The only one I can think of might be for a young deaf child that attends a school where they teach using SEE, but I may be wrong.

Your right. My training was for the education k12 setting but i have interpreted for adults before. But if i were to interpret for someone who was an adult who knew SEE only im not allowed to correct her as its her language. Some people don't realize that SEE sign isn't its own language at all.. its just a system but i guess it depends.

 

[shortstuffishere]

You're welcome 🙂 Interpreters will always have some issues I think, especially with ASL to English and vice versa because of the heavy usage of Pidgin (PSE)/Contact Signing which is really just a common middle ground between ASL and English/SEE that exists purely to bridge the gap between ASL and English/SEE. PSE isn't even technically a legitimate language, more of a melding of two languages that makes it easier for the two to understand each other. If I'm not mistaken, the biggest issues arise when someone speaking English is using very specific technical jargon about something. Technical terms don't always have a solid ASL translation and instead require SEE in order to translate which the interpreter may or may not have a lot of knowledge on.

Its now "known" as Translit or Transliteration. Its more english. It doesn't really require SEE sign. And believe me we do have issues. I guess it depends right?