Metaglossia: The Translation World

TACOMA, Wash. — A federal disability rights group has launched a probe into how Tacoma police and the Pierce County Jail treated a deaf crime victim.

That action comes as a direct result of a KIRO Team 7 Investigation.

In a report on August 5, Investigative Reporter Chris Halsne exposed how Tacoma police tased Lashonn White on April 6 just minutes after she called 911 for their help. Police reports say White failed to heed a call to “stop” – something White says there was no way for her to hear. She’s been deaf since birth. Officers arrested White on charges of assault and obstruction anyway.

A National Group that advocates for deaf people is weighing in on a situation here in Arkansas that it says could put deaf and hard of hearing Arkansans at risk.

LITTLE ROCK -
Dissatisfaction over the state's hiring of a sign language interpreter is spreading beyond Arkansas' borders.

A national organization is going straight to the top…urging Governor Beebe to get involved.

It is a letter dated today…and it is a letter that goes over the head of Department of Career Education Director Bill Walker in hopes of affecting change.

The National Black Deaf Advocates bills itself as the leading advocacy organization of black deaf and hard of hearing people in the U.S.

In a letter to the governor's office dated August 27th, the "NBDA expresses great concern on behalf of the deaf community in the state of Arkansas."

The letter goes on to say "We believe ARS failed to follow the principle that individuals must have national or state level credentials in order to provide professional interpreting services."

It warns that "…your state could potentially face a violation of the civil rights of deaf clients of Arkansas Rehabilitation Services as well as a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act."

"Black deaf and hard of hearing Arkansans have a right to the best the state can offer in quality interpreting."

The letter closes by suggesting that Arkansas "…re-evaluate and reconsider the hiring practice" that allowed this current situation.

Agency Director Bill Walker was appointed by Governor Beebe five years ago.

Walker stands firm in his belief that the woman picked for this interpreter position was a good hire despite a growing number of complaints.

MINDEN — Minden resident Sandra Maria Diaz-Villalobos doesn’t get alarmed when the police call her at 1 a.m.
For an interpreter, those calls are just part of the job.
“Interpreters are invisible people because we cannot change the conversation or anything ... (we’re) just a bridge to communicate,” Diaz-Villalobos said. “When people swear, I have to swear ... I just turn red.”
Anyone who enters her home steps into a sunny, brightly painted room with plants in the windows and a bookcase filled with dictionaries that Diaz-Villalobos uses for her translation work. She points out that translating is not the same as interpreting, although the words are used interchangeably; when she translates, she writes, and when she interprets. she speaks.
“I love this one,” she said, picking up a book on Costa Rican slang words.
She doesn’t use an online dictionary for her translation projects.