Brand the Interpreter

Communicative Autonomy with Danielle Meder

• Mireya Perez • Season 4 • Episode 51

Share episode

Have you ever wondered what an interpreting encounter might look like if everyone were responsible for their own communication? Join today's discussion with certified ASL interpreter Danielle Meder as we navigate the concept of communicative autonomy in interpreting encounters.

Danielle Meder is a nationally certified American Sign Language interpreter and has worked in language access, particularly in remote and healthcare environments for 16 years. She's a licensed interpreter trainer with Cross Cultural Communications' The Community Interpreter, International and is passionate about supporting interpreters, pushing for higher standards, and advocating for best practices that support communicative autonomy.

Tune in on the podcast that brings you your stories and our profession. Brand the Interpreter.

----------------------------------------------
Connect with Mireya Pérez, Host
www.brandtheinterpreter.com
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Instagram
----------------------------------------------
Connect with Danielle Meder
@daniellemeder (instagram)
LinkedIn
----------------------------------------------
SPONSOR INFORMATION
Thank you to Liberty Language Services for sponsoring this episode!

To learn more about Liberty Language Services, please visit: https://www.libertylanguageservices.com/

To learn more about the Academy of Interpretation, go to: https://www.academyofinterpretation.com/ 

For a limited time only, you can get $10% off all courses when you sign up using the Brand the Interpreter’s discount code, AOI10BTI. 

Visit the Academy of Interpretation on social media:
LinkedIn
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter

Share your thoughts about this episode!

Thanks for tuning in, till next time! 👋

Connect with Mireya Pérez, Host
www.brandtheinterpreter.com
Facebook
LinkedIn
Instagram

Mireya Prez:

Today's episode is sponsored by Liberty Language Services here today to bring you a big announcement. Liberty Language Services is excited to announce the launch of its sister company the Academy of Interpretation an online education and learning platform for the language services Industry. The AOI's mission is to expand access to educational courses, while establishing a standard of quality and professionalism. The Academy of Interpretation was founded to address the widespread problem of untrained interpreters working in the field. The AOI offers professional accredited courses for interpreters and serves as a platform for organizations to refer their interpreters for training. The Academy of Interpretation is offering Brand the Interpreter listeners a 10% discount on all courses using the discount code a AOI one zero BTI. This code cannot be combined with any other discounts. But check out the Episode notes for more information about the Academy of Interpretation. Liberty Language Services is a woman and minority owned language services company that recently celebrated 10 years of providing language access services. And they're currently hiring freelance interpreters for a variety of languages. To find out more about L iberty or to apply, check out the Episode notes. Welcome back to another episode of the Brand the Interpreter podcast where I share your stories about our profession. This is Mireya your host. And today, I'd like to start by letting you know that Spotify has finally opened its podcast rating option. So for those of you that have been so eager to give this podcast a positive rating, I know I know. The wait is finally over simply head on over to the Spotify app, look for the Brand the Interpretar podcast, click on the three dots that's below the title and rate away. And if you screenshot and tag me, I'll send you a shout out on the next episode. So go ahead, pause this episode and go give it a rating away. Our guest today is Danielle Meder, Director of organizational quality and partner support in the field of health care. She is a nationally certified American Sign Language interpreter and has worked in language access, particularly in remote and healthcare environments for 16 years. She's a licensed interpreter trainer with Cross Cultural Communications, the Community Interpreter International, she's passionate about supporting interpreters pushing for higher standards, and advocating for best practices that support communicative autonomy. You can find her on Instagram, as@daniellmeder, or on LinkedIn. So without further ado, here's Danielle Meder. Danielle, welcome to the show. I'm so excited to have you here. How are you? Welcome.

Danielle Meder:

Thank you so much. I'm so excited for today. This is really exciting.

Mireya Prez:

Absolutely. It's been a long time coming. I've had my eye on you for quite some time. So I'm super excited that we finally get to have this beefy conversation because I'm sure it's going to be beefy.

Danielle Meder:

Yes, yes, I've been a big fan. And you've interviewed some of my dearest friends too. So I feel like I'm part of like this special club now. So thank you so much.

Mireya Prez:

I love it. Danielle, let's start with with something that I love to really get into with all of my guests. And it has to do with your childhood. So let's begin by talking a little bit about you know where you grew up. And one of your favorite or fond childhood memories. And then of course, the most important thing is what did you aspire to be when you grew up?

Danielle Meder:

Oh, my goodness. All right. Well, let's see. I'm originally from Rochester, New York. I grew up in a suburb of Rush Henrietta. And I lived there until I was about 18 and then moved away to go to school. But when it comes to probably my fondest memories growing up, I would have to say it would it's summertime outside reading under the front tree or climbing up the front tree and reading in the tree. I did that a lot as a kid and yeah, it was nice memories of that. And then let's see when I when I was growing up what I wanted to be was a couple things I wanted to be a clarinetist, but I don't have rhythm. So that was out the window even though I played clarinet for many many years. And then I thought oh writer, which is coming true now in a way different than I thought. And then by the time I was in fifth sixth grade for sure a sign language interpreter and that stuck for good.

Mireya Prez:

Wow, those are like, I mean, come on, it went from music to writing, you know, to another type of art form and we'll get into that, shortly, but let's get a little bit of an idea of life as little Danielle. So did you grew up in a bilingual environment?

Danielle Meder:

No, I didn't. So I grew up, and my parents only spoke English. I come from a monolingual home. But I remember when I was a kid in fifth or sixth grade, my dad gave me his sign language dictionary that he had from college. And I think I still have it somewhere. But it was his ABC dictionary that he had when he went to RIT . And then that kind of just stuck with me, I have never been good at math and science, you do not want me to be your interpreter in math and science. But I did what have a thing for language and history. And when I took sign language in sixth grade was offered for half a year. And it just was something that stuck. And I felt really confident and that I could pick it up and internalize it really well. And that kind of became my thing from a really young age.

Mireya Prez:

So, would you say it was around Elementary School, the dictionary intrigued you? In what way, would you say? What was that calling like for you?

Danielle Meder:

Yeah, so when we were in fifth grade, there was a Deaf performing arts group. They were a theater troupe, and they came to our fifth grade assembly and performed and they danced, and then they were all deaf. So they were talking and had interpreters on the side of the stage. And I remember vividly sitting there looking at the interpreter going, Oh, my gosh, I want to do that. And then I remember going home telling my mom and dad, I saw these interpreters, it's so cool. And then my dad, I think it was that brought out his sign language book from college and said, Here, this is what I use, it's a dictionary. And then later in fifth grade, the middle school sends home the pick your language that you would like to study in middle school and sign language was listed. And I'm like, That's it. Totally meant to be.

Mireya Prez:

Wow, I love that story. I mean, what are the odds that you come home and you're like, super excited about this one performance you saw? And your dad busts out the dictionary like, oh, by the way, I still happen to have this from college. And maybe you'd be interested in that. How great I love that. So you go into middle school and you sign up for the sign language classes. Did that continue on? Or how much further did you push the training?

Danielle Meder:

Yep. So I was really fortunate being born and raised in Rochester, New York, because in Rochester, it's one of the largest deaf populations in the country. Because there, there is a college for deaf students in Rochester. So you saw people signing and using sign language everywhere you went to the grocery store in school. And so I had deaf teachers as my first introduction to sign language in middle school. So it was a full immersion environment. I had some hearing sign language interpreters that were blessed by the deaf community as someone who could teach their language because sign language is the language of the deaf community. And hearing people get to use it, but it's really the language of the deaf community. And so they offered sign language, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and 10th grade, and then it was done. But my high school had a reciprocity agreement with the local college Rochester Institute of Technology, which also has the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. And so I could attend college classes for free my junior and senior year of high school as long as I had good attendance and good grades in my high school classes. So that meant I was 15 because I was a young high school kid, 15 years old, Junior, attending sign mine and creative movement and intro to interpreting and other classes all in sign language, really young. And then once I graduated high school, I could go off to college.

Mireya Prez:

What would you say Daniel is one of the biggest misconceptions or what people often get wrong about hearing people and learning sign language like, what is one of the biggest things that you would say, no, that's not true.

Danielle Meder:

I would say, it's really cool for hearing parents to teach hearing baby sign language so they can communicate earlier with them. But when deaf babies are born to hearing parents, often doctors will say, let's get hearing aids and a cochlear implant. They don't need to learn sign language they need to learn to talk. And so I would say the misconception is that what's good for hearing babies is also great for deaf babies. And what's great for deaf babies is great for hearing babies, which is language and language acquisition and access. And if you're deaf, the best way to learn language is visual. It's their native inherent language, and we need to really prioritize that.

Mireya Prez:

Going into the Deaf communities and as you saying, you having that opportunity to really immerse yourself as much as you could, right? Obviously, it's not the same because you are a hearing person but immersing yourself in a community in a deaf community and having that access or that ability to understand the language, what was that like for you? What did that grow in you, Once you started to see that you could communicate in another language with more people?

Danielle Meder:

I think just like anyone who learns another language, it opens your eyes up to how other people see the world. And so to take language that I only knew as written and oral, and see it come alive and sign language and a different way of communicating and describing things and their own idioms and grammar and, and values, it just just opened your eyes so much to other cultures and people and how they view things and how they talk about things that you just have a deep appreciation for it. I started learning Italian cuz I'm of Italian descent, a couple generations removed from when my great grandfather came to the United States from Sicily. But I started learning Italian 10 years ago, and I wish I had learned it even younger as a kid the way I did sign language because it just opens your eyes up to so much of how we talk about our world around us. And just the way we use language. And it's no different for the deaf community and sign

Mireya Prez:

I love that I love that story so much because it, language. it just shows you, particularly as a child, once you're curious about something and you have the support of your parents to continue in pursuit of that interest, and just the different doors that that opens up for you, and the different doors for other worlds as well just like you just shared. At some point, though, between becoming bilingual, in sign language and in English, you still needed to make that transition into interpreting. How did that come to be?

Danielle Meder:

You know, when I was 10, and I saw the those interpreters for the deaf theater group. Like that was it like I knew fate sealed, I'm going to be a sign language interpreter and it was a one track mind. This is what I have to do. And that I mean, that was it. Like I always knew growing up and I'm going to be an interpreter. I'm going to be an interpreter and like there was never consideration for anything else. It was, I'm Daniel and I'm going to be a sign language interpreter.

Mireya Prez:

And then did you follow the path? Or how did how was that opened up for you in terms of like taking the training to be an interpreter? Was there anything specific to becoming an interpreter?

Danielle Meder:

Sure. So for sign language interpreters back then, I graduated high school date myself, I graduated high school in 2002. And back then to become a nationally certified American Sign Language interpreter with the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, you had to at least have an Associate's degree. And so there were lots of associate's programs, there was one at NTID, where I had taken classes as a junior and senior high school. And then there were lots of other programs around the country. And so I did go to NTID for one year, and then had an opportunity to move to Minnesota and attend St. Paul College interpreting program, which was one of the first I want to say five or six interpreting programs in the country that was ever formed. And then got my Associates there. And then when I graduated in '05, I took the certification exam shortly after and that was it.

Mireya Prez:

What did you encounter when you enter the profession Danielle, because I know that oftentimes we view things from our lens, and then we think it's so great. And then once we enter, whatever that may be, the reality hits, what was that reality for you, after you transitione, and after that pixy dust kind of settled, if you will? What did you come to find out?

Danielle Meder:

The things you learn in your interpreter training program are really important. But I think, and it's different now I believe, but back then I don't think there was enough support on how to market yourself and how in the business of interpreting and if you're a freelancer, what that looks like for taxes or just letting people know you're available, how to set yourself up with an agency, who has worked for you as a freelancer, how to demonstrate your skills when you're new in the industry? How do you show that when you, maybe, don't have your certification yet, or the results take three or four months to come in, and you're waiting, but you still have to work, and you have to still develop your skills. So I think that transitioning time is hard. It's definitely better. Now, there are groups and programs that really focus on the business side of interpreting, but it's not a universal thing yet. And that first year as a professional interpreter, and I think by nature, I'm a hustler. And so I was able to make it work. But it was hard because I was charting a path that no one had even turned the lights on for me just so I could see it. The next steps I had I had to kind of figure it out on my own.

Mireya Prez:

Yeah. And you've hit actually a point of conversation that I'd like to really get into because I know that both of us happen to be passionate about this very same topic, which does have to do about marketing yourself and your skill sets and branding yourself as a language professional. And I know for you, this is something that is true and dear to your heart, and that you've talked about encouraging interpreters to hold themselves to a higher standard, and to be able to demonstrate that by means of whether that's marketing, whether that's branding, whether that's exposure, however, whatever you want to call it, and I know that it's sometimes for many of us easier said than done. I'll bring in my personal experience with regards to just the branding, not necessarily myself, but the profession within the organization that I was in, because it wasn't seen as a true profession. Right. We still have that difficulty, we still encounter that, and even changing the mentality dynamic of the people in the role takes time. And it begins with the interpreter, would you say?

Danielle Meder:

Absolutely. I think the the benefit that sign language interpreters have is we are a pretty well established industry, right and profession. So we we've got national certification for all time coverage interpreters, and not not a specialty based. And there's advocacy groups, there's just there's a lot of resources in place to hold interpreters accountable, and it's not perfect, there's still work to be done. But with the ADA and other laws in place, protecting deaf consumers, it's held interpreters to a higher standard. And when you look at spoken language, interpreters, like yourself, you're doing equally valuable work, your work is no less important than mine as a sign language interpreter. But there are not as many organizations or standards in place in all environments, to make sure that the right interpreter is at the right assignment doing the best job they possibly can to support communication. And so we as the interpreters, particularly in spoken language, have to hold ourselves and anyone we come into contact with to a higher standard, because we have to push the industry in the profession for it ourself, until there is a larger organization or a larger movement to really elevate the value of interpreters in the eyes of the people procuring those services.

Mireya Prez:

And in the meantime, that that becomes a reality for particularly many of the specialties where there are no organizations representing them. What would you say is let's just say let's give them one thing for an interpreter that's really looking to promote, you know, the profession itself, but also themselves. What is that one thing they should start with?

Danielle Meder:

Formal training. Right now the industry talks about 40 to 60-80 hours of training, go out and get some professional training on being an interpreter. I say this all the time, I swear, it's probably one of the things on my tombstone. It says bilingualism does not an interpreter make. So you can know two languages, but you are not an interpreter. That means you need to go out and get training, do your homework on the training and find out what is reputable in the industry, talk to interpreter friends, start reading articles, doing your research, but get some form of training. So you understand the absolute value of your work. And that when you are an unqualified and untrained interpreter, you are a very dangerous person in that communication. And so you really need to start with understanding the role of the interpreter, the limitations of the interpreter, and the skills and tools at your disposal when you're working.

Mireya Prez:

Yeah, absolutely. And would you say even that those first 40 hours are exactly that. It's just the beginning, it's a taste because you know that education in this field at least, you should be open to the fact that it's continuous. Right?

Danielle Meder:

Right. Well, we're practice professionals, right, and who else are practice professionals, doctors, lawyers, teachers, meaning that you don't just learn the material once and you're done. You learn the material, you learn the concepts, and then you continue to learn other concepts and variations and, and skills. And the same thing is for interpreters language, and communication is messy. And it's flawed because we're flawed, right? No interpretation is actually ever perfect. It's as close to perfect as we can possibly want. But it's never actually perfect, which means there's another time and another way you could do the job. So you have to look at your work that way as I am constantly improving and constantly getting better. I'm going to make mistakes, I'm going to miss steps. So that means I have to go back to the books and continue to learn and practice and to the interpreter who meet somebody else has, oh gosh, I haven't been to a workshop in ages. Be wary of that person because they're not taking seriously their responsibility as an interpreter.

Mireya Prez:

You mentioned Danielle that interpreters should be hold themselves to a higher standard. What does that mean? Let's let's kind of break that down. Does that mean that I should go out there and act like the diva interpreter?

Danielle Meder:

Oh, gosh, no. No, all of us, I would like to say are probably guilty of being a diva, myself included. I hope that's a distant memory and no one remembers that experience with me. But I would say it's surrounding yourself with people who are new to the field who have been an interpreter forever attending workshops, reading, learning, and just making this your profession 100%. This is not a side hustle. This is not something you do on the side. And it's fun and easy and cute. Because the consequence of looking at it like that is the people who need your communication skills, your interpreting skills, they're going to suffer, if you don't prioritize it, nobody wants a pilot, flying an airplane to and taking them in their family somewhere when they haven't put in the requisite work and commitment and ongoing education. And then getting in a plane and then flying and praying, you don't crash, to look at our work the same way. There's so many things that can go wrong, if you're not holding yourself accountable and responsible to the work you're doing. And this, again, we're just because you're bilingual, doesn't mean you're interpreters. And so as interpreters, we really have to say, well, the work I do, can really lead to life or death. And that sounds dramatic. But it's true. There's so many environments where something can go wrong because of an interpretation. And you want to make sure that the interpreter that was in that environment was the best and most qualified and experienced interpreter available. And if others outside of the industry aren't going to hold us to that standard yet, then we have to do it ourselves.

Mireya Prez:

Definitely I can think of a few encounters in which a bilingual employee might have come in, in lieu of the district interpreter. And in our case being a K through 12 interpreters, right, and this took some time, it wasn't, you know, from one day to the next, it took some time to establish the role of the interpreter in the school district. And for us, it's a K through 12. Well, now pre K through 12 school district, but for staff that had been a while and had experienced the district interpreter, which is your trained interpreter versus a bilingual staff member, and for staff to say, Okay, we need to reschedule when a district interpreter is available, because they were able to see the difference between what you and I like hearing Danielle, communicative autonomy, right? They realize that having a trained interpreter meant that everyone was able to have... well, all I can explain it as is communicative autonomy. And let's get into that, because I think that that's really what it comes down to. And we've talked about this in the past you and I, Danielle, we really geek out as I like to call it because the dynamic and the flow of communication is so different when we allow for this to happen. So let's get into this conversation now. And for those folks that have no idea what we're talking about, could we break down communicative autonomy?

Danielle Meder:

Absolutely. It is a phrase that I absolutely love, or a concept that Sofiia Garcia-Beyaert. She is one of the co authors on the Community Interpreter, I absolutely adore her. So when she listenes to us, which I hope she does, Sofia, you have changed my life when I think about the work of an interpreter and what we do. So communicative autonomy means everybody gets to say what they want, when they want how they want. And that's not language base. That's that as Sofia says in an article she just wrote, that transcends all of us that that is not just for the limited English population community in the United States. That's not just for deaf people. It's not just for any group that doesn't speak the same language as everybody else. We all want communicative autonomy. I'm exercising my right now by saying what I want, how I want, as I wish, and as are you and we all want that. But if there's a language barrier, the presence of an interpreter should not change that. It shouldn't say, I know you wanted to say it this way, but because of the quality of the interpreter, it's going to come out this way. The interpreter is just a layer, not a filter. And so interpreters have to look at their work as people who are upholding everyone's communicative autonomy.

Mireya Prez:

I love that. And it's like us as interpreters in the school district get together and really talk about what the objective truly is. At the end of the day. It really comes down to that, you know, even though we say at the end of the day, it's a true and accurate rendition of what is being said, Indeed but I think at that point that's a given righ? That is part of the profession that point is a given what's not, is that communicative autonomy. It's not necessarily something that everyone is thinking about, and allowing for each person to truly be an individual in that conversation and taking part meaningfully in their own way. And I absolutely love that concept as well, because it gives me a bigger purpose of not just coming in, and what's the phrase you love, Danielle? I'm not just facilitating communication.

Danielle Meder:

Oh, yes. So this came out of the last webinar you and I did together. And it was actually kind of a lightbulb moment for me. Because interpreters don't, I don't think they think highly enough of themselves. Especially if you're newer that like, Oh, I'm, I'm just the interpreter, right? Like, No, you're not just the interpreter, or someone says, oh, so what are you here to do? Oh, I'm here to facilitate communication. No, you are here to uphold communicative autonomy for every single person in this encounter in this session, your work is so valuable. So don't diminish it or water down by facilitating communication. I mean, that's, it's so not what we do every day as interpreters and I wanted, I could ban two things from interpreters. That would be the word I'm sorry. We never apologize for asking for something that we need to do our jobs. So and So saying, Oh, I'm so sorry. Could you repeat that? For the interpreter? You say this is the interpreter speaking? Could you repeat that? Please, right I don't need to apologize that I need you to repeat something. And then I'm here to facilitate communication. No, you're here to support communicative autonomy, and not just for the person who doesn't speak the majority language, but for everybody. And to own that sense of purpose and how we speak the language we use shapes our attitude, and I think starting there is good for interpreters. It's helpful.

Mireya Prez:

Oh, absolutely. And once you incorporate that as your true objective, during your encounters or doing your assignments, you'll see the difference in the quality both from the end user and yourself, because it's a different dynamic, it's a different interaction between you and the people that are present. So I 100% agree with that. And when we talk about elevating the standards of the interpreter, this is one of the main things. So if you're looking into really figuring out how can I do that, during an encounter, how do I elevate the standard? How do I elevate the profession, look into communicative autonomy, search up some articles, you know, really read into the concept so that you realize really what the true nature of our job should be? What it is, but unfortunately, for many out there, the idea is facilitating communication. That is the objective. And it's so much deeper than that right?

Danielle Meder:

And when you say facilitate communication, it sounds pretty straightforward, which is why people don't always look to hire qualified interpreters. That's why the people who are procuring interpreting services have been told for so long, Oh, yeah, interpreters, yeah they're bilingual. They'll keep everything confidential. And they'll just help facilitate communication. Well, then anybody could be an interpreter at that rate. That's why they're not demanding more. So we have to change how we talk about our work. So when someone says, Oh, you're the interpreter, oh, my gosh, tell me about your job? Well, yep, I make sure that everyone can say what they want, how they want when they want while maintaining ethics and boundaries, find your elevator pitch, it's messy. But finding that that purpose and how you talk about it will then passively re educate the people who are hiring us for our services. Doctors, teachers, lawyers, don't go to school, graduate, and then say, oh, yeah, I just, you know, I cure braicancer. So you know, no big deal, right? No, you do something big, it's a big deal. That's what we do is interpret what we do is a big deal, we have to talk about it, and look at our work that way. So we see bad actors out there who are unqualified. And misrepresenting what we do and are actually dangerous to the people depending on their interpreting skills, we can call it out and then people will start to see the difference between an unqualified or untrained interpreter and a qualified or trained interpreter and and then demand more, and we can sit stand your ground, we've been waiting for you to demand more, because that's what we've been pushing for.

Mireya Prez:

Oh, for sure. And people will demand you know, for more when they see the difference, I mean, but they have to be able to see it in order for them to be able to identify what they're missing. And I think, like in our case, for instance, in K through 12 education, most of the families that are going through the processes are there for a few years, right. And so to be able to be with them from the beginning, and really showing how communicative autonomy works when they're in these important meetings having to do with their child's education, and really seeing the difference between the staff that now take part in the conversation directly with the parent as opposed to the person facilitating communication. The dynamic is different because the parent by means of the interpreter, which is really what we feel is super important, is empowered, is really meaningfully participating. When the question is asked to the interpreter, and we redirect their attention to the person that's there, to the teacher to the principal, they feel empowered, like, hey, I really am communicating directly with the teacher with the principal or whomever is there, right. That is the moment that things shift for the parents like, I know that I can ask them, pose my question as me while the interpreter is there, and I can do it so in a way that really represents who I am, and do so directly with the other side.

Danielle Meder:

And upholding communicative autonomy doesn't mean you get resolutions that everybody wants. Communicative autonomy means that if the session or the encounter ends with everybody mad at each other, as long as it was because they wanted to be mad at each other, because of how you were interpreting then great. The idea that interpreters are here to make communication outcomes easier, we're here to help communication happen, we're here to give everyone the opportunity to express their communicative autonomy through an interpreter, but we're not here to make your life easier. Like, if you had to read it out loud in English, you're gonna have to read it out loud in English, I'm gonna have to interpret it, like, it's, it's a process, but interpreters are not here to solve your problems or get the non English speaking participant to say what you want them to say it. And I think we have to help interpreters also feel okay that if a session or encounter ends, and it didn't feel clean and tidy, as long as you did your job, then that's all you can ask for.

Mireya Prez:

Very much. Agreed, Well, alright kids, that was your training, very small piece on communicative autonomy, go and do your homework, get out there and really, you know, get into that being your purpose, and it will absolutely change the quality of the service. Would you say, Danielle?

Danielle Meder:

Yes, absolutely. I mean, we have, we have to hold ourselves accountable and each other and really push this profession forward. It starts with us, as we often hear in all sorts of things. It starts with us and we have to do an education and then a re education of the people who hire interpreters. And it's a lot of work, but we can do it. And I've seen it done. And at the end of the day, while this is all great and wonderful for interpreters, it's the people who depend on language access services, and qualified interpreters that really benefit the most from it. And that's ultimately who we work for.

AD:

I need help. I'm scrambling to find interpreters for our board meeting. We have a staff Spanish interpreter, but we need Korean Farsi and Arabic. Plus, we have a slew of IEP meetings coming up most of them in exotic languages. I'm calling everywhere. I know what we need, I met the perfect translation agency at OCDEs Interpreters and Translators Conference. Certified Interpreting Services. They offer in person and virtual services. Certified Interpreting Services? Yes, they're professional, warm and perfect for our diverse districts needs. How do we contact them? Call or email, it's all on their website, CISinterpreters.com. CISinterpreters.com. That's just what we need. I'm contacting them now. Thank you for calling certified interpreting services. This is Jasmine.

Mireya Prez:

As a sign language interpreter, Danielle, what has been your biggest challenge during your career? And what do you think it taught you?

Danielle Meder:

My biggest challenge? I don't know if I would call it my challenge. I think it was something I had to come to terms with and be okay with, which I now teach interpreters about is that you're not the best interpreter for everybody. And when I had a bad interpreting session, sometimes it was because it was just a bad day and you feel you carry that guilt. But then there's other times where that client and that encounter is not for me, and I'm not for them. And that's and that's okay, that one interpreter does not suit all one interpreter does not work in every environment and assign an interpreter here or you can be a legal interpreter, you're in medical or you're in K 12. But sometimes even in those environments, depending on the ASL user's sign language skills, or their just their their way of signing and my exposure and experience it just didn't gel. And that that's okay. That there are other interpreters out there who will do better by this person than I can and to better identify that faster and quicker so I don't steal their time and opportunity to get what they need done. I wouldn't say that was that was a lesson learned, but just or a challenge, but coming to peace with that and not feeling like a loser or a bad interpreter because I didn't gel or wasn't the best interpreter for that person.

Mireya Prez:

Yeah, and that's super important because I think that sometimes we can let moments like that really tear us down. And when in actuality, you know, we can use those as defining moments, like you said, to really improve, not just our service, but who we are as individuals and in the profession, right. So, aside from challenges, there's also those work related moments that inspire you and inspire you to either make a different move within the profession, or to change something within yourself or within the profession. What has been that aha moment, or that work related moment that has helped to inspire you in the field?

Danielle Meder:

Well, I always thought I would be an interpreter, and I was for a very long time. And then I had the opportunity to move into more of a leadership space, which I was very reluctant to do so. And I was able to move into a quality assurance space. And I was surrounded by fantastic people, right, interpreting may be very isolating and lonely. But there is a huge village of people with so much more knowledge and experience or different knowledge and experience than me. And I moved into this quality assurance program development role. And it was in that moment that like, all the light bulbs went off. And I thought, I have a voice and in an experience, and just a perspective that I think could be really valuable. And I worked with really fantastic interpreters from both spoken and sign and we created quality programming. And then that led me to meet other folks, and I'm co authoring this textbook, right now with fantastic, just incredible people that I am in awe of, and just still kind of humbled and shocked that I even get to do this with them. But realizing that I have a voice and a platform, and opinions and thoughts and and but it's all rooted in language advocacy and justice and making sure that nobody's voice is diminished because of the quality of the interpreter. And 10 years ago, if you'd asked me if that's where my heart was, I would have said no, no, it's been assigned what interpreter medical environments, like I love this work, and it was true. But now, it's for sure about language, access language, justice, quality interpreters, and really helping interpreters grow into these incredible professionals who really have such a huge impact and are needed and motivating in that, in that capacity has just been an absolute gift. And I'm so grateful for the opportunities that have come in especially the last seven years,

Mireya Prez:

You've shared with me that you stepped outside your comfort zone by writing an article for publication. And this isn't something that you would perhaps have considered on your own. What led you to step outside this comfort zone and share your thoughts or your opinions via an article?

Danielle Meder:

Sure. So when I was working for a healthcare VRI company, one of my leaders was Debbie Lessor. And she and I are very passionate about a lot of the same things. But I was very reluctant to put my name on anything out in the community. And that was just afraid of rejection and backlash. I'm happy to say I've gotten over those fears, still nervous, but not afraid to do so anymore. And I read an article by St. leverages publication and it was someone about talking about medical VRI. And I strongly challenged and disagreed with some of the statements made because I was working in medical VRI. And I was helping with quality and I was helping run a team like and I just have had more progressive thoughts on VRI. At a time when VRI was really there a lot of folks really resistant to it for sign language interpreting and deaf patients. And so I read the article and I remember talking to Debbie going, this is not this is not it. This is not how we do things like this is wrong, like which this article is is talking about, and she goes, write a response, like Oh God, no, I can't do that. No, I can't respond, no then do it. And she pushed me and I wrote a response and submitted and worked with the editors over at St leverage, and then it came out and it was the most nerve wracking few days of my life waiting for this backlash and invisible wave of rejection and everyone calling me out and all of a sudden I discovered as like this fraud or someone who is anti deaf community and which was not true at all, but and actually in response was a lot of was a lot of great feedback of people agreeing and understanding and supporting and I think that was probably my first taste of I can do things that I never thought I could do as well as kind of push the limits to how we look at the work we do and have conversation about it and make some bold statements and be okay and stand by them.

Mireya Prez:

Oh definitely. And it just proves something that I was told a while back that if you don't tell your story, somebody else will tell it for you. Right? And it may not usually, not may not, it looks nothing like what you're actually going through. And so, I know for a fact, even in my own experience that going out there a past that comfort zone of yours, and being able to share something that's that's your own personal experience, perhaps that's how it begins. And realizing that there are so many more people out there like you, right? That sharing your experiences that sharing what you're you're believing in and what you're thinking, and you didn't know any of that you didn't know that there were so many people out there that could tap into your knowledge or even be in agreement with what you're sharing. And many of us are constantly searching, particularly those of us that are hungry for knowledge and, you know, hungry for wanting to know if there's others out there, like me, are always seeking information. And in a world that, you know, we're so interconnected with the web and everything. The fact that sometimes we cannot find information that's directly related to what we're doing, or the specialty that we're doing, or just the thoughts that we have is incredible, sometimes like to find out that there's hardly anything out there. So for those of us are, like you, Danielle, that are courageous enough to step out, even with hesitancy and with eyes closed, and you know, in spite of that fear, step outside that comfort zone and pushing something out. That means that whoever is out there looking for this information will one day find it and that might be able to help them in their journey. I always appreciate and I always, you know, I know that I'm always looking for that person that said, I'm going to push this out. Because in your case, you read something that you thought that doesn't jive with me, this is my experience. Let me just go ahead and send that out. And also appreciate the people in your lives that push you to do that. I think those people are great.

Danielle Meder:

They are and you want to have, you want to have people who are like that around you. And you want to be that for other people too, right? It's this balance. And, again, interpreting is so isolating at times we especially if you work remote, or even if you work in a center, or even a site where you're the only one but there are so many of us out there and sharing those experiences and thoughts at the end of the day, as long as it is rooted 100% rooted and advancing, communicative autonomy for everyone, no matter what language they speak, then there's room and space for all of us to share those ideas and thoughts and theories, because that's at the end of the day that's what we're all here for. We're not here to be the most famous interpreter right? It's not about us. It's about the people who need us. And I think there's a lot of folks out there with a lot of great ideas and but the rejection is real and is scary. And I know for me, especially younger, very self conscious and anxious person. I've gotten a lot better, but it's because of the village that's been around me. Certainly that has helped push through that and bring me to where I am today, which again 10 years ago, I never would have thought it would be working within this part of language access.

Mireya Prez:

Definitely, definitely. Danielle what supports or resources are available out there that you feel are true gems and would like to share with others? What supports are out there for ASL interpreters that you would like to share?

Danielle Meder:

I think the for ASL interpreters there's countless resources, whether it's your local RID and chapter or the National but then there's also organizations like NCIHC, National Council on Interpreting and healthcare that is not language specific that offers great webinars and resources for interpreters working in healthcare. I think if you're a professional interpreter, you need to be on LinkedIn. And you need to be following some of the hashtags that are out there, whether it's #1nt or#remoteinterpreting and start following leaders within your local interpreting community and goes on on more national or international stage to see what is trending in the industry. And see what's happening and what's being talked about. There are laws being written currently that will change the face of freelance interpreting, if it's passed and you need to know about it. And I find a lot of those resources on LinkedIn and then in some of the Facebook groups which can be hit or miss but there spend enough time on LinkedIn you start to see who people follow By all means, follow me on LinkedIn and see who I follow because I learned a lot about the field of what's happening from those interpreters that are out there who are doing work like I am, but just in a different capacity as advocates or or educators, or lawyers that are working really hard to elevate the profession, but also protect the way we work.

Mireya Prez:

Yeah, you know what, I know that for those that have been a listener from the beginning of this podcast, they have heard me preach LinkedIn till I turn blue. So but it's true. I think that, you know, if you're even if you're not in love with social media, or, you know, you think that social media is the root of all evils, perhaps, but LinkedIn, I think that if you're very strategic about it, it's an actual learning tool and a platform, aside from networking, that you can absolutely use to to further enhance your career, your networking within the interpreting communities. So I agree, Danielle, lget out there and create your profile if you've not, what are you waiting for?

Danielle Meder:

Absolutely. You know, and like even for sign language interpreters, there's a Facebook group called ASL interpreter trainings, events and conferences that offer CEUs super long title, but they post really great workshops that come across from all over the country. But really, there's great training programs out there I am partial to one in particular, the Community Interpreter International, I am helping write two books with them. And I just I love Marjorie, and and her entire team and what they're really trying to do in this field, which is raise the barrier to entry a little bit, right, just because you're bilingual doesn't mean you can be an interpreter, there are other skills you have to have. So they're really driving the profession forward and really trying to hold us to a higher standard. She does incredible webinars that are free but oftentimes offer CEUs and and from there, you learn about all these other things that are out there. They're just really titans in this industry who are trending. Jinny Bromberg offers her Linguist Education Online, twice a year and has a incredible lineup of presenters that are just so knowledgeable and so informed and just want nothing more than to support the profession and educate and there's room for so many at the table. And you can't help but attend and listen and be in awe, like oh my gosh, you're my new best friend. They're just fantastic. And but again, I learned about a lot of that stuff. As I moved away from just being a sign language interpreter and moved into the spoken language world, a lot of that stuff started with LinkedIn, and just seeing what's out there and what people are commenting on and liking and resharing. And as a sign language interpreter, I am an absolute awe of the spoken language interpreting world you guys just your experiences and where you've interpreted are not places that I probably would ever be able to interpret as a sign language interpreter for lots of reasons. But the insight and the experience and the challenges you guys have to go through to really be trusted and respected. I've just an absolute absolute awe of the entire spoken language world. It's just it's so incredible the work you guys do and the places you've been and the stories you tell.

Mireya Prez:

You know, and we're getting ready to wrap up our conversation, but before we move further, you mentioned something that's also very important I feel for the industry and for professionals, which is this combination of other specialties right or it doesn't even necessarily have to be the industry itself. Like when you combine or you're learning about let's say that you're really super interested in marketing. And you bring into that, you know, into the profession, your knowledge with that and mesh it together. Like what results that fusion of what results is something to enhance or improve the profession and your case, you know, you dabbled into the spoken world. But that doesn't mean that there's components of that that will not make you a better ASL interpreter. You know, we, like you mentioned, we isolate ourselves. Why?

Danielle Meder:

That's just the thing like at the end of every webinar I've ever taught to sign language interpreters, I end it with, please reach across the aisle to your spoken language brothers and sisters, like we are one profession, one field of interpreters and the spoken language interpreters don't necessarily parsed themselves out amongst languages. Well, that's what the Portuguese interpreters do. And that's what the French interpreters do. No, you're all spoken language interpreters and you're all working within the same silo and yet you have sign language interpreters who often are in a very different silo. And there's so much to learn from both sides. There are things ASL interpreters have been able to accomplish and the advancement of the profession that spoken language is and can learn from. But there are other things that spoken language has done. That is really remarkable that sign language interpreters can learn from, you know, the vicarious trauma piece that spoken language interpreters go through, especially when they come from conflict zones is just fascinating to me. And we as a sign language interpreter can learn so much from that. And so if we stopped siloing, then we'll actually advance all of us in the right direction and elevate the respect and importance of the work we do. And the language barrier. That should be the last thing that separates any interpreter from another interpreter.

Mireya Prez:

Definitely agree, Danielle, what new or future projects are you working on that you would love to just throw out there, in the ether of the universe and be able to share with us for this 2022 year?

Danielle Meder:

So I mentioned briefly before, I am a co author on the Remote Interpreter International, which is coming out later this year. And I was asked to be a co author on the next edition of the Community Interpreter which hopefully is coming out later this year and apply this year, I should say 2022. Deeply, deeply humbled to even be considered as any of those, on any of those opportunities, because there are just Titans and fantastic, amazing, incredible people on those author teams, but the remote interpreter is going to change the face of remote interpreting. We've had such massive advancements in remote interpreting as a result of CVID. This book was in the work prior to CVID. And then CVID struck and couldn't be more important now and better times. And it really is going to empower new interpreters or new interpreters to remote to understand how to best work and leverage technology and their skills and what accommodations and adjustments to make so that they can provide the best language access and, and support in a remote environment. And it's very, very, very exciting. And I can't wait. We're in our final draft two ish stages now. And Marjorie is our Marjorie Bancroft, our publisher and she's pushing as hard and we're we're we can see the finish line. And I am so excited I can

Mireya Prez:

I'm so excited too I cannot wait for that to be out talk about it for days. and ready to go like fresh off the press starting to really dabble into that because that's, I do I remember a while back that been spoken about briefly. And then it was like boom, CVID hit. But I mean, how much more relevant could it be?

Danielle Meder:

Well, we're writing history, right? So we are writing and then going, Okay, this development just happened in this technology. Like there, there are major organizations out there developing technology to make remote simultaneous interpreting easier, better, faster, more convenient, and that's influencing what we write and laws that are being passed that's influencing what we write. And so it's been a such an honor to write with Katherine Allen and in Sarah Sackler rocks and Tati Cestari, and Dieter never say his last name, but Dieter, Boostlingo, and Carolyn can never say her last name. But she's also Boostlingo, my deepest apologies, I need to write the names down. But they are fantastic. And they have written incredible chapters to make this book. And I'm just it's so exciting. And it really is going to change the face of remote interpreter training, remote interpreter support, and how language access companies are using remote interpreters and how they're training them. There's lots of training programs out there to make people qualified to become an interpreter. But there's none that focus on someone becoming a remote interpreter. And if CVID has taught us anything, is we have to be ready to pivot to remote. And for lots of us, that is a permanent pivot, but there's not really curriculum in place to support that in a systematic, quality manner. And this book is going to do that this textbook I should say, is going to do that.

Mireya Prez:

And again, what better way than, you know, from interpreters to interpreters and beyond because, you know, when we think about Zoom, Zoom didn't set themselves up to be the remote interpreters platform, it just so happened to be so we had to work with it, rather than it be the other way around. So we go back to that whole, you know, if you don't tell your story, which is what you guys are doing with this book, somebody else will do it for you. Like we have to work with what we have, with what is already out there only because there is no information out there. But I feel like this book is going to provide that information for those platforms that are really seeking to incorporate or improve that aspect of their software. Although, like you just mentioned, I know that there are other companies already that are taking this on themselves and really changing the face of remote interpreting.

Danielle Meder:

And we need it and it's great. So, but there's so many other things the skills and protocols we have as interpreters that work in on site don't necessarily translate to remote. And, you know, we've been saying in this textbook a lot. If you're a remote interpreter, your client base is global. And you're you can be interpreting from your house in Kansas to somebody across the ocean. But what considerations do you have to make for that to be successful? And this book walks you through all that the technology, everything, and it's just everybody on the author team is just very incredible. And it's, I'm most excited for that to come to fruition this year.

Mireya Prez:

So am I! So look for it, you guys. 2022 is going to be the year when we hopefully see this fresh off the press. And we're able to really get into it. And maybe we'll do a full circle and come back and talk about this textbook Once it's out. Danielle it's been such a pleasure. I really, really always appreciate, our conversations. And it's just been an honor to have you as a guest on the podcast today. But before we go, where can our listeners find out more about you and the work that you do?

Danielle Meder:

Certainly LinkedIn, you will find me on LinkedIn. If you want to see the more social side, you can find me on Instagram that's full of my kids and knitting and some language access stuff. But for most part, you can find me on LinkedIn. I'm pretty active except during this you know, holiday season, but I post a lot about language access and language injustice and raising awareness on on the work we do and why it's important.

Mireya Prez:

Thank you so much. And I'll make sure to include those links on the Episode notes so that if you would like to get in contact directly with Danielle, you can do so. Danielle, again, an absolute pleasure and an absolute honor. Thank you so much for saying yes to the invitation. And I look forward to whatever is lying ahead in the near future for you.

Danielle Meder:

Thank you so much for having me. I'm again deeply honored and humbled to even be a part of this and Congratulations on finishing Season 3 just a little bit ago and good luck to you.

Mireya Prez:

Thank you, Danielle. Take care. Bye

People on this episode

Head Shot

Mireya Pérez

Host