“Smitha’s Story Cultural Fit of Interpreters” Video

Video Description:

Text insert with a teal color frame appears: Smitha’s Story, Cultural Fit of Interpreters.

A Deaf Indian woman with glasses is sitting in an office, signing.

Speech:

I used to work with an interpreting agency, so my experience with interpreters is through that I learned and realized that there’s not enough diversity within the interpreting community.

Now given, there exists a bevy of Black, Latino and Asian interpreters but to find someone who I identify with and shares my cultural background, that’s extremely difficult to find. It’s important because sometimes, with my Indian culture, we’re not as outspoken and culturally there are some sensitivities in certain areas.

It takes time to communicate and find someone who understands the tone of the community and is sensitive to that experience. That is hard to find. So if I can find an interpreter who understands and is familiar with my culture, and even better if we share the same culture, it simplifies communication which is beautiful.

Video Description:

NDC Logo appears above text, black lettering on a white background: nationaldeafcenter.org

“This video was developed under a jointly-funded grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) #HD326D160001. However, the contents do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of the federal government.”

Next to it, three logos appear. The first reads “IDEAs that Work” with an arrow drawing a circle from “IDEAs” to “Work” and the words “U.S. Office of Special Education Programs”. The second logo shows a red-and-blue star with text next to it that reads “TA&D”. The third logo shows a blue circle around a tree. In the blue circle are the words “U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.”

End of Accessibility Document