Resources
COCOA Language, Advocacy and Consulting, LLC, in partnership with M&N Language Services, LLC, has written several publications pertaining to interpreting and language access that can be found below.
Guidance for Trilingual Interpreters,
1st Edition
Authored by Gloshanda Lawyer & Kenton Myers
Translated by Beatriz Puche and Juan Bernal Mondragón
Reviewed by Darren Reed
Endorsed by Mano a Mano, Inc
Many areas of the United States are experiencing an increasing need for Trilingual Interpreters skilled in Spanish, English, and American Sign Language. As Trilingual Interpreters, we also recognize the need for interpreters who use Pro-Tactile and other spoken and/or signed languages in addition to ASL and English.
Due to the lack of resources available for both emerging and experienced Trilingual interpreters, we have published this 10-page Guidance for Trilingual Interpreters, 1st Edition.
We will be presenting this Guidance during the TSID Trilingual SIG conference on November 20, 2021. To register, click here: https://bit.ly/trilingualguidance
Black, Indigenous People of Color: The BIPOC Interpreter Experience
Tokenism and Weaponization of Our Identities
Authored by Kenton Myers & Gloshanda Lawyer
Translated by Kenton Myers and Joe Toledo
Reviewed by Letitia Nadine Bynoe, Benny Llamas & Tiffany Hill
For some time, Black, Indigenous, and Interpreters of Color have been holding conversations amongst ourselves and with entities that contract for interpreting services about our inequitable experiences and its impact on the field of sign language interpreting. We made the move to foreground this conversation with the hopes of reaching the broader community of interpreters and pushing beyond discussion and into action. For interpreters of color we want to 1) acknowledge the weight we carry and 2) let you know we are in this together. We hope this document will also serve as a challenge to entities to address the tokenism and weaponization of BIPOC interpreters.
Combating Performative Accessibility
The Do's and Don'ts When Working Virtually With Spoken and Signed Language Interpreters
Authored by Gloshanda Lawyer & Kenton Myers
Translated by Beatriz Puche, Ibrahim Alkhaldi, and Felicia Williams
Edited by Barbara Domcekova
Reviewed by Letitia Nadine Bynoe & Tiffany Hill
Since COVID 19 there has been a shift to online events and providing “access” with language interpretation as one of the go-to accessibility services. As interpreters we know it’s not enough to just be invited into a space; a lot more work and effort needs to happen on the backend and during the event to make accessibility truly come to life.
We created a document outlining considerations for organizers and event hosts to move beyond performative access and into creating spaces with language interpretation as a collaborative accessibility practice.
Combating Performative Accessibility (English)
Combating Performative Accessibility (American Sign Language)
Qué es Acceso Performativo y Cómo Combatirlo
Reclaiming Our Time
Authored by Kenton Myers & Gloshanda Lawyer
Translated by Kenton Myers and Stephanie Hakulin
Reviewed by Tiffany Hill
Virtual events have become part of the “new normal” opening up many opportunities for language access, particularly through the provision of: Sign and spoken language interpretation and Captioning, whether auto or human generated. This virtual shift has brought ways of re-interpreting time with requestors, forcing us to constantly educate them on the assumption that access providers can or should adapt to last-minute changes (ie. unplanned/unscheduled extensions). The result has caused repeated frustration for those on the receiving end as well as for those who are providing access.
We hope this conversation starter will provide a widening perspective to entities contracting with access providers about the value and limitations of our time - and how to budget accordingly.
"Sorry, I Tend to Speak Fast"
Authored by Gloshanda Lawyer & Kenton Myers
Translated by Kenton Myers and Romduol Ngov
As interpreters and those who depend on interpretation services to access information, we have all been in spaces where the content is coming at us way too quickly! Interpreters working in such spaces are not only tasked with the tremendous cognitive and physical work of interpreting, but also of making strategic interruptions in order to ensure equitable language access.
“Sorry, I tend to speak fast” is often the warning flag before an event and/or the rationale we are given during an event for ill-paced presentation content that disregards the demands of interpreting and the cognitive processing of the intended audience. Here are some considerations and tips for improvement in relation to the pace of content presentation.