What Are Some Responsibilities and Duties of a Sign Language Interpreter?

The responsibilities for a sign language interpreter include ethical behavior. Being fair, confidential, professional, etc. The Code of Ethics is posted on RID's (Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf) website.

RID also has some general information about interpreters. Their standard practice papers answer a wide variety of questions and give you a good base to work from with further questions. If you can join their message board, maybe you can "interview" some interpreters about their experiences to get more personal views about the profession.

As far as duties… your duty is to interpret the message faithfully, impartially and completely between both languages for all persons recieving services (deaf and hearing). If you are a freelance interpreter (not on staff or with an agency) then you will also be responsible for your own scheduling, billing, taxes, and all the good things that come with running your own business.

Hours vary. If you freelance, you determine your hours based on when you are willing to work, what work is available and how much you need to work to pay your bills. If you work for an agency, business or school as a staff interpreter, then your hours will be determined by them.

The number of people you work with in a day or year depends on the setting and the number of assignments. The larger your deaf community, the larger the variety of clients you will wrk with. This also leads to a larger demand for services.

As far as complaints about interpreters… there are several categories. Those that don't want to pay for interpreters (these get to me, especially when it is a requirement for effective communication and is covered under ADA law!) Those that are annoyed by having another person in their "territory". Those that are distracted by having an interpreter (this can be real complaints for those that have issues with being distracted). There are some that complain because the interpreter is not a good match for that client or setting. (Sometimes that interpreter just wasn't qualified to begin with!) Some people complain because interpreters want information about the assignment before they go into it so that they can prepare. Often people misunderstand what interpreting is and involves and think interpreters are just being nosey or causing problems instead of making sure that they provide an accurate interpretation for their clients.

So really the answer to almost of the questions is — It depends. Not a fun answer, but very true.