Two weeks to Silent Weekend at Western Oregon University, and it’s not too late to register! I’m not presenting this time, but some of my MAIS cohort are, so take advantage of fresh scholarship!
Annual Silent Weekend
The Western Region Interpreter Education Center and Western Oregon University are co-hosting the fourth annual Silent Weekend immersion experience at Western Oregon University, July 20-22nd.
Save the Date for the 2012 Silent Weekend: July 20th – 22nd
Silent weekend is conducted completely in American Sign Language (ASL). The event is for Deaf and hearing students, interpreters, interpreter educators, and ASL instructors. It is held at Western Oregon University during the summer.
Attendees can choose from two possible tracks with corresponding workshops. The first is interpreter professional development, which is for working and pre-professional interpreters. The second track is for students and community members to develop their ASL skills and learn linguistic features of the language.
There are opportunities to earn up to 1.4 CEUs during this weekend. If you are looking for some worthwhile workshops, some great entertainment, and a chance to sharpen your skills then Silent Weekend is for you!
This Wednesday, July 4th, from 1–4 PM Arizona Time (same as PDT), I am excited to open my workshop to participants on a Google+ Hangout. Interpreters on Google+ have asked me when I would be offering a workshop online, and now I finally am. This workshop costs $30 USD and offers .3 continuing education units (CEUs) through the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf Certificate Maintenance Program (RID CMP). CEUs are sponsored by the Arizona Commission for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (ACDHH). We will webcast from the Desert Valley’s Regional Co-op in Phoenix, Arizona. The language for this workshop will be English. The onsite participants will be ASL/English interpreters yet the workshop is designed for interpreters of all languages. Also, although we will only be processing CEUs for RID members, anyone is welcome to join, and perhaps you can apply to your own programs for CEUs.
Hangouts can hold up to 10 participants. I and a few onsite participants will take two screens, so there is room for up to 8 online participants. To register, please download the registration form and follow the directions. Note that Fostering Independence is the only online workshop at this time, and be sure to include the email address you use for your Google+ account. When Amerigo receives your registration, she will acknowledge your enrollment and you may send $30 USD plus PayPal fees ($31.17, if my calculations are correct) to my verified PayPal account. I will then add you to a private circle and invite you to join our Google+ Hangout at 1 PM Arizona Time on Wednesday.
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.
(Don’t worry — there won’t be that many onsite participants this time!)
Presenter Bio
Daniel Greene, BA, NIC Master, has been studying and practicing the teaching of ethics and professional practice in the Masters of Arts in Interpreting Studies/Teaching program at Western Oregon University for the past year. Since 1990, he has interpreted the gamut of settings including business, conference, education (pre-school to post-doc), medical, performing arts and video. His love of arts and literature informs his work, and his passion for elevating the interpreting profession drives him to study lesser-known aspects of interpretation and teach interpreters new skills.
Who knew that while we western region RID interpreters are having a conference to ourselves in Honolulu, interpreters of all settings and languages are having a conference in Monterey? It amazes me how little I know of the wider world of interpreting, and I can only imagine that my fellow ASL-English interpreters are in the same boat.
It seems to me that a week never goes by without a colleague telling me that he or she was misunderstood, humiliated, obstructed, or underpaid while doing his or her job. Some of them react with anger, others with frustration, a few seem resigned, but a growing number of our fellow interpreters have been reacting to these real-life situations by taking action, doing something about it. Finally, interpreters finding a solution to this “never-ending” comedy of errors where the interpreter is often an unwilling character.
As those of you who know me personally (and many others have figured out by reading this blog) know, I have always considered myself a professional at the same level as all those who we provide our services to: Scientists, politicians, attorneys, diplomats, physicians, military officers, school principals; and I try to act that way when I provide my interpretation services. I feel…
President Barack Obama congratulating legislators and Stevie Wonder (Photo credit: theqspeaks)Consumer Electronics Association CEO Gary Shapiro introduces former Mass. Governor Mitt Romney (R) at CEA HQ in Arlington, VA. 5/28/2009 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Don’t let the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and Entertainment Software Association (ESA) persuade the FCC to exempt them from closed-captioning Internet video. Read the article below and click the links to read the actual petition; then, write to the FCC to uphold the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA) that President Obama signed into law.
Hangouts can hold up to 10 participants. I and a few onsite participants will take two screens, so there is room for up to 8 online participants. To register, please download the 
Daniel Greene 