CSUN Not Providing Interpreters!

It’s amazing how technology is bridging gaps between people & increasing the flow of information.  For example, on twitter, I follow & am followed by several people & groups in the Deaf Community.  One of those tweeps is Cynthia, of Deaf Access Films.

Deaf Access Films is a website with listings of current movies in theaters that provide some for of captioning for the Deaf & hard of hearing viewers.  When you’re Deaf, access to communication can be difficult.  DAF provides an amazing service to D/HH individuals.

Anyways, Cynthia tweeted an article about CSU Northridge not providing interpreters for their Deaf students.  Wow.  This really caught my eye!  In California, there’s only a few universities with degrees in ASL Interpreting, CSUN being one of them.  Apparently, the hours for interpreters have been cut due to the cuts to the CSU system.  Interpreting services are required by law, as part of the Americans with Disabilities Act & Article 504 in the Dept. of Education.

You would think that a school that values interpreters, Deaf Culture, and education… that they wouldn’t have a problem to meeting the basic needs of their Deaf/HH students.

There’s two issues at hand: interpreters failing to show up to classes (in one case, missing 6 out of 12 class meetings as of 10/19) and students not receiving the type of interpreting/captioning service requested.

First, I’m going to cover the issue of not providing the preferred service.

Apparently it’s up to the school to decide how they want to provide interpreting for the students who request the services.  Either ASL to English Interpreting, or some sort of Real-Time-Graphics-Display, aka captioning.  Students are allowed to have a preference, but depending on availability the school ultimately decides whether or not the student gets an interpreter or RTGD.

The issue with CSUN not giving students their preference is that they’re basically providing a sub-standard education… not the education the student paid for.  ASL is the student’s native language, which is what an actual interpreter provides the student with.¹  By substituting an RTGD for an interpreter, they’re compromising the student’s understanding of the lecture.

This isn’t all hearsay, there’s actual scientific studies to support my claim.  For example, in a study done by Elliot, Foster, Stinson (2002)² they concluded that the RTGD system C-Print has the advantages of allowing the students to review a print out of the lecture as their notes.  But, it does not guarantee that the information is usable to the students.

Imagine that, having information… but not being able to use it!

There’s a whole lot more information about C-Print & other RTGD, but it’s all per different students’ circumstances.  It all breaks down to this: RTGD are good, but they still don’t exactly live up to interpreters.

See for yourself, turn on your TV’s closed captioning.  Now, watch a few different TV shows, like sitcoms.  See all the errors in the captioning?  Or some key words and phrases omitted?  Now try out a news program or station.  Wow, talk about errors!  RTGD are comparable to news programs — because it’s real-time.

If you’re paying for a service, in this case the students are paying for their education, shouldn’t you get what you paid for?  The students who want interpreters should be receiving interpreters.  Just like if you paid for a double cheese burger, you should receive a double cheeseburger instead of a plain cheeseburger.

Now, interpreters having their hours cut means students are attending classes without any access to information.  Imagine a role reversal… a Deaf professor and a hearing class, and the interpreter doesn’t show up!  Not only is the primary interpreter not showing up, but because of the hour caps on the rest of the interpreters, they can’t arrange for a substitute!

The hearing students are still getting their education, but the Deaf/HH students are not.  They’re paying to be there too!

To top this all off, at CSUN is the “National Center on Deafness,“  the department in charge of supplying interpreting and captioning services.  Which on their website, they prominently display that they were the first mainstream college to provide interpreters for their Deaf/HH students.  Ok, so if you’re so proud of that fact — why are you now failing to live up to a standard that you set yourself??

Also, when the interpreters fail to show up, captioning services are not supplied in substitution.

It’s sad that a school KNOWN for their Deaf Studies program & contributions to the Deaf Community is failing to meet the most basic needs of  their Deaf/HH students.

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Leave me your thoughts in the comments.  Did I cover this properly?  Is there anything I should change?  I am a hearing person, so if I’ve said anything that is inaccurate I need to know. What have been your experiences?
2. Write to the National Center on Deafness.  If you’re Deaf, share your own personal stories.  If you’re hearing, share your thoughts on the importance of education and receiving the services you paid for.  Share whatever you want!
3. Spread the word!  Tweet about this, email this, post this on facebook!  The more people aware of this, the more action that can be taken.

1. Also, I’ve mentioned this before but I know I have doubled my readership since I last mentioned this — but reading lips provides less than 40% of the actual message.  For example, “I love you” looks identical to “Island View.” [↩]
2. Language Learning Practices With Deaf Children, Third Edition, pg 222 [↩]