Thread by @_miut

Delighted to attend the seminar 'Dove tolken in de kijker' (Deaf interpreters in the spotlight) in the @artskuleuven to learn about the new course for deaf interpreters in Flanders, Belgium. #dovetolkenindekijker

The seminar is being interpreted from VGT to IS, LSFB and VGT (for deafblind), all by deaf interpreter students, and spoken Dutch by hearing interpreters. #multilingualism #deafinterpreter

Kristof De Weerdt @krikinr2,one of the teachers of the course, introduces the course. The duration of the course is 1 and 1/2 year (Jan 22-June 23) and there are 19 students (all deaf).After finishing the course, they can work in the CAB (interpreter service) as deaf interpreters

Carolien Doggen @caroliendoggen, another teacher, explains about 'Deaf interpreters: what, where and why?'. See pictures (in Dutch) for examples of who could use the deaf interpreter services and where.

Karolien Gebruers @KaroGebruers sharing about how a hearing interpreter-deaf interpreter team can work together.

The seminar has guest lecturers from the Netherlands too: Ellen Nauta and Linde Terpstra, deaf interpreters. Both explain the situation of deaf interpreters and the lobbying in the Netherlands. (Another language being interpreted now: NGT)

Three important barriers were found in the Netherlands: 1) the deaf interpreters couldn't be registered as interpreters because of no diploma 2) they couldn't get the diploma because they don't follow the minimum required decibels 1/2

3) the deaf interpreter services usually happen in the deaf community, they are not visible and the NL Sign Language Interpreter Association don't know how to support their lobbying (except for some hearing allies) 2/2

But the situation changed.Now deaf students can enroll for the sign language interpreter formation in the university with hearing students.But they still need a special curriculum covering themes for deaf interpreters:autocue,peripheral vision,interpretering 2 SL,etc.

Time for deaf interpreting demos where we can see how they work in different situations. The first demo is a press conference. In the picture, a hearing interpreter feeds a deaf interpreter student during a press conference demo.

Deaf students say that they try not to stick to a sign language dialect during a press conference to make sure all deaf people in the country can follow the news.

Second demo: a robbery report with the police. Policeman asks a deaf foreign victim through hearing interpreter (NL-VGT) and deaf interpreter (VGT-IS). The result is a fluid conversation where the deaf victim can share the answers comfortably.

Thrid demo: a psychology session with a teenager. The hearing psychologist knows sign language and there is a deaf interpreter to make the session more fluent, whatever mood is the teenage patient is in or using some deaf slang that the hearing psychologist wouldn’t understand.

Fourth demo: a meeting between deaf and deafblind people. A VGT interpreter and a haptic interpreter are in the room.

Panel to end the seminar. With different entities/representatives: CAB (interpreter agency), deaf teacher, deafblind user, member of the VGT advisory committee, Flemish SL interpreter association, Flemish NAD, Tenuto.

Some of the interesting conclusions from the panel: Deaf community and hearing interpreters learn that deaf interpreters can work in different areas.

Deafblind people in Flanders can now choose from a wide group of deaf interpreters after they got training.

The Flemish SL interpreter association will work on how to represent both, deaf and hearing interpreters.

After the exams in June, the newly formed deaf interpreters can work in CAB, the Flemish Interpreter Agency, under the same conditions as hearing interpreters.

Tenuto vzw (NGO who provides workshops to hearing interpreters) will work from now on workshops for both (hearing and deaf) and on specific workshops for only deaf following their specific training needs.

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