RID 2015 National Conference, August 8-12, 2015 New Orleans, Louisiana

RID 2015 National Conference, August 8-12, 2015 New Orleans, Louisiana

Submitted by: Lesley Sawchyn

Laissez les Bons Temps Rouler

Let the Good Times Roll for a Brighter Future

That was the theme for this year’s conference down in the Big Easy. Let the good times roll for a brighter future was what everyone experienced.

I had an amazing time with the conference, the food, the culture and the history that New Orleans had to offer.

The keynote speaker was absolutely amazing. What stands out most for me when attending American workshops/conferences is that ALL presenters first open up with a thank you to interpreters. Every time!!! The keynote speaker Brandi Rarus is the acclaimed author of Finding Zoe. This book chronicles the struggles of her herself growing up Deaf trying to find her identity and sense of belonging. Set against the backdrop of an emerging Deaf America, Finding Zoe tells the miraculous story of the adoption of a six month old Deaf baby caught in the foster care system, waiting for the right family to take her home. Interesting fun fact about this book, it is now a required reading in ASL and Deaf studies programs across the United States ITP programs. This book is also available at Barnes and Noble.

Brandi also showcased the creation and deployment of Vineya, a marketplace of certified ASL Interpreters similar to services such as Uber and Instacart. She currently serves as the Director of Business Development at Communication Service for the Deaf.

Her message was most inspiring and truly genuine, if ever you get a chance to listen to her speak grab the opportunity. She will inspire you to be a better interpreter and advocate.

RID NOLA had a contest prior to the conference, if you wrote a piece or you made a little blurb on twitter or Facebook and messaged how you were going to “let the good times roll” while in New Orleans you would be entered in a draw to win a variety of prizes. Well I am not tech savvy and would not know how to twitter to save my life so I emailed directly what I was going to do while in NOLA… “

“Well I registered in January for the conference; I am staying at the Hyatt….. I am not a twitter kinda girl, so here I am emailing how I am going to let the good times roll in NOLA. I have been talking about this conference for two years now and I plan on letting my good times roll while on a riverboat jazz dinner cruise Friday before the conference starts, then I plan on spending time on Bourbon Street in the French quarter, also plan on going to church on Sunday where they have a deaf ministry and interpreters… and then I plan on making my future brighter by all the education that I will absorbing throughout the conference. Yeah that about sums it up….”

Fun fact I sent the above email to the lady and received an immediate response asking if she could use it for their marketing… well absolutely was my response.

So that being said I updated all my email correspondence to go to my personal phone as RID was all app’s and technological, well I didn’t update my email in regards to this draw and once I returned home after the conference found out that I won a $100.00 gift card to be used in the hotel where the conference was being held… just means I have to go back for a vacation and use that card. LOL

So let’s just talk about the fun stuff before the education piece. If you ever visit NOLA some must do’s to put on your bucket list… Get the weekend or three day pass for the “hop on, hop off” tour bus. It is a great way to learn all the different neighbourhoods in the downtown parish. Gives some great history commentary as well. If you know your history of the Big Easy then you know about the Voodoo aspect of the French Quarter, partake in the Voodoo walk and go on a cemetery tour, fascinating tours. Oh and it gives you a bit of Canadian pride when your guide talks about how our French Canadians influenced the French Quarter and contributed to the creole culture. The riverboat dinner cruise was an awesome way to take in the mighty Mississippi River. Bourbon Street was a whirlwind of excitement. Oh Fun fact, Mardi Gras is just not one parade on one day, did you know that there are over 300 parades during the Mardi Gras festival and the festival actually starts 8 weeks before fat Tuesday.

I am not huge on religion but I must say when I am traveling during conference times I like to check out different denominations especially if there is interpretation going on at church. I found that the Franklin Avenue Baptist Church has a Deaf Ministry and a team of interpreters that provide interpretation to the 10:30 service every Sunday. So off to church I went and was welcomed with open arms and invited to interpret parts of the celebration, check, check off the bucket list. What an amazing experience and what a wonderful opportunity.

So, onto the learning. I attended a three hour lecture talking about “Are You Competent to Interpret Legal Competency Hearings and Evaluations?” This presentation was delivered by Tomina J. Schewenke, Amy Peterson and Tara Potterveld.

This lecture discussed the following, “Forensic assessment involves the intersection of mental health and the judicial system. Defendants have a right to assist in their own defense by communicating freely with their attorneys and confronting witnesses. Some Deaf defendants, due to lack of language, mental illness, or cognitive impairment may be unable to assist in their own defense. The presenters discussed legal procedures and principles, relevant court cases, forensic psychiatric assessments, Deaf/Hearing team interpreting and specialized knowledge needed to interpret issues of competency.”

On to the next three hour lecture, this one is about “Field Induction: Creating the essential elements for competence in specialized settings” given by Carla Mathers and Richard Laurion.

This lecture focused on the National Consortium of Interpreter Education Centers (NCIEC) developed supervised induction programs to further the in-service training continuum for individuals seeking to specialize in healthcare and legal interpreting.

I truly love listening to the next presenter that I had the privilege to partake in her lecture. Robyn K. Dean, we all know her as the co-author of The Demand Control Schema: Interpreting as a Practice Profession. Which OIS staff interpreters have worked with over the last year with Laura Henry.

Robyn presented: From “Do Nothing” to “Do No Harm”: Collaborative Values in Medical Interpreting. She presented a list of dos and don’ts apparent in most ethical codes that prove unhelpful to those working within the complex social dynamics of community interpreting. Research shows that healthcare interpreters do not always abide by the rule-based approach but instead, base their decisions on contextual factors. Her presentation examined the problems of interpreting context-based ethics when the guidance of their ethical codes proves insufficient. The presentation also explored an ethical frame that appreciates context but expands the values of interpreting to include the values inherent to medical settings. It also proposed the use of case conferencing as a means through which interpreters develop critical thinking and ethical judgement.

My last lecture that I attended was again a three hour lecture discussing Interpreter Accountability: How do Interpreters’ Choices Impact Consumers? This was a packed house, by far standing room only in the lecture hall. The presenter Tamar Jackson spoke about the power that interpreters have in communicating and the impact we have on consumers’ lives based on our ability to accurately interpret their discourse (by considering “their world” instead of “our world”). Using Deborah Tannen’s (1994) research on communication as our framework, we examined dynamic equivalence, clarifying techniques, gender influences, powerless language and analyzed utilizing “normal” pausing, clarifying techniques, hedging and other linguistic devices, in order to facilitate communication. This was a very interactive workshop and I would recommend if you were ever to get the chance to participate in this workshop to take it.

I attended other sessions like the Interpreters in Healthcare Member Section, it really didn’t apply to me being a Canadian but it was interesting to watch the process take place in this member section.

Other activities that I participated in were the Mardi Gras parade, the opening meet and greet and the closing ceremonies. I was enthusiastically waiting for the announcement of where the 2017 RID conference will be and to date it is still a secret…

There was so much more that I wish I could have participated in but there were not enough hours in the day to accommodate everything. It is a real juggling act with a jam packed schedule, great presenters and limited time but hey it makes for an exciting time.