Students - A set of competencies for students regarding interpreting

By the time deaf or hard of hearing students graduate from high school, they should be prepared for their new role of independent consumer. This means that they should understand their rights and responsibilities regarding communicating using an interpreter. They should also understand how to work with an interpreter in order to maximize their learning and participation. They should learn the differences between educational interpreters, who are supposed to foster learning, versus community interpreters, who really have no obligation to the consumer other than a faithful rendition of the communication in a way that respects all parties.

Schools have a responsibility to foster students learning about the nature of interpreting and how they fit. There is little information available about fostering this type of learning. However, we have provided a preliminary Educational Interpreting Student Competencies, a set of standard-based competencies that most deaf and hard of hearing students should meet by the time they graduate from high school. This set of competencies includes the broad goals:

• Develop healthy individual identify with respect for others
• Develop a sense of autonomy, being responsible for decision-making, negotiating conflicts.
• Understands consumer rights/information, alternative accommodations, how to manage accommodations.
• Manages and accommodate to learning through an interpreter.
• Negotiates social interactions, ranging from interactive academic discourse to social peer interaction.

We expect that these standards will serve as a guideline, but that educational teams will need to decide what level of achievement is appropriate for a given student. However, there should be significant concerns if the student seems to be unable to develop independence and autonomy with regards to interpreting services.