The NAD-RID Code of Professional Conduct (CPC), Tenet 4, Respect for Consumers, admonishes interpreters to “Facilitate communication access and equality, and support the full interaction and independence of consumers.” Supporting consumer interaction and independence demands that we get out of the way when consumers don’t need us to interpret for them. Various models of interpretation have viewed the interpreter-client relationship in different ways, but do not focus much on the client-client relationship. This workshop will review some well known and lesser-known models of the interpreter-client relationship, examine the “Rescue Triangle,” and introduce a model of interpretation that focuses on the client-client relationship. Participants will have ample time to reflect upon their own professional practice and see how they may be sometimes standing in the way of their clients’ relationships with each other; participants will be guided to identify ways in which they can get out of the way of client-client relationships and foster independence.

1. Daniel Greene, BA, CI & CT, NIC Master
Fostering independence:
How to get out of the way
when consumers don’t need us
1

2. Fostering Independence
workshop description
This workshop is held on Independence Day for a reason.The NAD-RID Code
of Professional Conduct (CPC) Tenet 4, Respect for Consumers, admonishes
interpreters to “Facilitate communication access and equality, and support the
full interaction and independence of consumers.” Supporting consumer
interaction and independence demands that we get out of the way when
consumers don’t need us to interpret for them.Various models of
interpretation have viewed the interpreter-client relationship in different ways,
but do not focus much on the client-client relationship.This workshop will
review some well known and lesser-known models of the interpreter-client
relationship, examine the “Rescue Triangle,” and introduce a model of
interpretation that focuses on the client-client relationship. Participants will
have ample time to reflect upon their own professional practice and see how
they may be sometimes standing in the way of their clients’ relationships with
each other; participants will be guided to identify ways in which they can get
out of the way of client-client relationships and foster independence.
2

3. My education, interests
3

4. What do you know?
What do you want to
know?
4

5. Independence vs.
Codependence
5

6. ★ “render the message faithfully by conveying the content
and spirit of what is being communicated, using
language most readily understood by consumers” (2.3).
★ “conduct and present themselves in an unobtrusive
manner” (3.5).
★ “demonstrate respect for consumers” (4.0).
★ “facilitate consumer access and equality, and support
the full interaction and independence of
consumers” (4.4).
NAD-RID CPC says
interpreters:
6

7. The Rescue Triangle a.k.a.
Drama Triangle (Karpman, 1968)
Persecutor Rescuer
Victim
7

8. Oh, the drama of it all!
8

9. The Rescuer gets to…
Meet
their own
needs
Keep victim
dependent
on them
Save the
underdog
Feel good about
themselves
Justify feeling
angry
9

10. It’s a vicious cycle…
Persecutor Rescuer
Victim
10

11. Ally Model
11

12. Models of ASL/English
Interpreting (per EIPI)
★ In education, the model of interpreting much
must view the interpreter as a legally defined
member of the educational team, obligated
to facilitate education.The interpreter
functions within the guidelines that all
educational team members share. (Source:
http://www.classroominterpreting.org/eipa/
standards/interpreting.asp)
12

13. Models of ASL/English
Interpreting (per EIPI)
★ In the Ally model of interpreting for adults,
decisions regarding interpreting are made
within the social and political culture
surrounding deaf and hard of hearing adults.
The interpreter needs to make a conscious
effort to be aware of power imbalances
within the educational setting. (Source: http://
www.classroominterpreting.org/eipa/
standards/interpreting.asp)
13

14. Deaf Professional—
Designated Interpreter
(DP-DI) Paradigm
14

15. Deaf Professional —
Designated Interpreter (DP-DI)
★ Hauser, P., Finch, K., & Hauser,A. (2008). Deaf
professionals and designated interpreters:A new
paradigm.Washington, DC: Gallaudet
University Press.
★ Book review: Hoza, J. (2010 Spring). Journal
of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education (15)2.
Retrieved from http://
jdsde.oxfordjournals.org/content/
15/2/205.full
15

16. Deaf Professional —
Designated Interpreter (DP-DI)
1. Knowledge of content in the Deaf Professional’s field is a must
2. Development of mutual trust must occur
3. Teaming issues with interpreters that are not DI (Designated
Interpreter)–i.e. what info will the incoming team member
need to know that the DI knows and should automatically
relay.
4. Cultural understanding of both Deaf and Mainstream worlds.
Retrieved from http://umnicu.wordpress.com/2011/07/27/rid-
workshops-discussion-deaf-professionals-and-designated-
interpreters-presented-by-karen-finch-and-angela-hauser/
16

17. Deaf Professional —
Designated Interpreter (DP-DI)
5. Understand the cultural and individual significance of
voice.
6. Know the culture of the department and organization.
7. Always defer to the DP (Deaf Professional)
8. Dynamic working relationship
Retrieved from http://umnicu.wordpress.com/
2011/07/27/rid-workshops-discussion-deaf-
professionals-and-designated-interpreters-
presented-by-karen-finch-and-angela-hauser/
17

18. Deaf Professional —
Designated Interpreter (DP-DI)
“When a level of trust, negotiation, and
professionalism is achieved between the Deaf
professional and the interpreter, the result is
empowerment that contributes to the social
emancipation of Deaf people— an attempt to
remove inequalities from the interpreting
situation, where they exist, and to promote social
and political changes in favour of the Deaf
community.” —Hartmut Teuber, Deaf professional
18

19. What would they do
without us?
19

20. “…if communication depends on the
construction of meaning from cues,
and if communicators do not have
direct access to others’ meanings or
intentions, then what we should
expect is partial communication.
Successful communication requires
our attention and explanation”
(Wilcox & Shaffer, 2005, p. 45).
Confusion is
part of
communication
20

21. “The problem is not interpreting. It is not that English is indirect and
that ASL is direct as Humphrey and Alcorn (2001) and others would
have us view it. It is not that translation equivalents are hard to find
(indeed, they are, but that pales in comparison to the real problem). It
is not that ASL is direct and elaborative and relies on expansion
techniques while English is indirect and non-elaborative (Lawrence
1995; Humphrey & Alcorn 2001).The problem is that our models of
interpreting simply do not do justice to the act of communicating. In
trivializing the cognitive work that is done whenever we communicate
with another we fail to prepare interpreters for the awesome and
mysterious task that they perform: speaking for another.” (Wilcox &
Shaffer, 2005.Towards a cognitive model of interpreting. In Terry Janzen
(Ed.) Topics in signed language interpreting:Theory and practice, p. 44)
“Our models do not do justice
to the act of communicating.”
21

22. 1.“In trivializing the
cognitive work that is done
whenever we communicate
with another we fail to
prepare interpreters…”
2.What kind of “work” do
you do when you’re
communicating with
another in your first
language? In your second?
Through an interpreter?
3. How much work should
the consumers do, and how
much work should the
interpreter do? Why?
4. How do I know how
much work consumers
would do if they were
speaking the same language
in the same culture?
22

23. “Imagine…a huge compound, shaped like a wagon wheel. Each pie-shaped
sector of the wheel is an environment…at the hub of the wheel there is some
machinery which can deliver small sheets of paper from one environment to
another…people in these environments have learned how to use this
machinery to exchange crude sets of instructions with one another—
instructions for making things helpful to surviving…” (Reddy, 1993, pp.
171-172).
17%
17%
17% 17%
17%
17%
23

24. “‘What if I weren’t there?’ is an
abdication of responsibility” (Pollard,
2010). “‘What happens there without
interpreters?’” is a question for
observation–supervision” (Dean, 2010).
—Workshop presented by Dean &
Pollard at the Conference of Interpreter
Trainers, Oct 2010.
What if I weren’t there? vs.
What happens there without interpreters?
24

25. ★ Talk as Text:“Utterances are viewed as units of
meaning that consist of smaller units of meaning
such as words and morphemes; each of them is
equally meaningful.”
★ Talk as Activity:“Utterances are viewed as
activities that are part of situated interactions, and
make sense to those involved, depending on the
type of situation at hand, on the number of people
present, and their mutual alliances and mutual
involvement” (Wadensjö, 1992, pp. 22–23).
Talk as Text and
Talk as Activity
25

26. ★ Some consumers are each other’s family,
friends, classmates, coworkers, etc.They
know each other better than the interpreter
knows them.
★ Some consumers communicate
independently— they use facial expressions,
gesture, writing, home/name signs, speech &
lipreading, etc. (Some sign with each other
when they’re not usingVRS!)
Consumer Collaboration Model: a
work in progress (Greene, 2011-2012)
26

27. Interpreter
Fluency in
Deaf/Hearing
Culture/Language
Group Membership
Shared Knowledge
Social Space
Relationship
COLLABORATION
Communication Tools
Hearing
Consumer
Deaf
Consumer
27

28. 1. How do consumers
communicate
independently? Who do
they do this?
2. How can I tell when
consumers don’t need me?
How can I get out of the
way?
3. How can I tell when
consumers need me? How
can I step back in?
4. How do I know when to
interrupt for
clarification?
28

29. “Many teachers find the ‘lust’ to
clarify and explain irresistible”
(Rowland, 2007, p. 81).
Do interpreters share the same
‘lust’ as teachers?
Interpreters =
Interrupters?
29

30. ★ Breaks flow, derails train of thought
★ Shifts focus from consumers to interpreter
★ Assumes responsibility for communication
★ Deprives consumers of natural
consequences, self-correction, and rapport
★ Defeats the purpose of communication
Drawbacks to
interrupting
30

31. danieljamesgreene@gmail.com
www.terptrans.com
Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn,
Twitter,YouTube…
Contact
31