Oklahoma Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf

Thursday Morning

Transliterating - Interpreting :What's the Difference? with Bill Ross

Do we really understand the difference between interpreting and transliterating? Most of us would answer, ‘yes’ since we have a general understanding of the principles of interpreting and transliterating. However, in practice, the act of analyzing our consumers’ language preference and providing a signed message, whether interpreted or transliterated, in an equivalent manner may not come as easily. This workshop is designed to offer an explanation by providing a practical comparison (and models). The major aspects of each function, interpreting and transliterating (coding), will be clearly defined, thereafter, opportunities will be provided for participants to put into practice what knowledge they have gained by way of hands-on practice activities. This workshop will be presented in English w/ASL interpretation.

*Student/2024 Grads ONLY*

Audiology for ASL Interpreters with Ashley Euwins

Interpreters work with Deaf & Hard-of-Hearing individuals on a daily basis with varying degrees of hearing loss. This workshop serves as
an introduction to audiology to assist interpreters in developing a better understanding of their clients' hearing needs. It will explain the
parts of the ear, how sound travels through the ear, types and degrees of hearing loss, how hearing loss may impact speech recognition, how to read and understand an audiogram, types of listening devices and assistive technology that are commonly used in the educational setting, how to make a conducive learning environment - including the use of an ASL interpreter. This workshop will be presented in English with ASL interpretation.

Choose Your Own Adventure with Becky Stuckless

Are you ready to explore decision making? From receiving a request to creating an interpretation, Interpreters must make many decisions. We make decisions about scope of practice, availability, language choices, logistics and much more often without the opportunity to know the impacts of our decisions. In this interactive session we will navigate scenarios in both small and large group to explore what options are available in our decision making. Participants will have the opportunity to contribute their own knowledge and life experience and together we will reflect on how our decisions might have an impact on the situation. Are you ready to choose your own adventure and explore potential alternate endings? We will explore how decisions may have further impact on individuals from marginalized communities. This workshop will be taught in ASL. (ethics/PPO req)

Thursday Afternoon

The Practical Side of Interpreting: Resumes, Invoices, Portfolios, and Branding with Bill Ross

Representing ourselves on paper in a professional and practical manner is an
important part of our work. This workshop will address how to best showcase your interpreting skills by outlining and reviewing the best and most practical ways to design a resume, invoice, portfolio and keys to
developing your “brand.” Explanations and samples of each will be shown and discussed at length. Guidelines as to how to make each document appear professional and functional as well as current trends and language regarding each will be presented and discussed. Samples will be provided along with tips on how to best highlight each interpreter’s strengths will be covered. This workshop will be presented in English with ASL interpretation.

*Students/2024 grads only*

The Arraignment Process with Anna McDuffie

The arraignment is the most common legal proceeding you will encounter as a legal interpreter. Arraignment quite often means
interpreting the Guilty Plea Litany – a highly complex linguistic hurtle for Deaf litigants. Interpreters planning to do legal work must
have a strong understanding of the Guilty Plea Litany and have many strategies to customize their interpretation to best suit each client. In this workshop we will learn procedural steps of an arraignment with emphasis on the Guilty Plea Litany. Participants will begin text analysis of the Guilty Plea Litany and work in groups to practice interpreting each element. This workshop will be presented in ASL.

Under Pressure! Stress Management for Interpreters with Jose Peralez III

Long work hours, vicarious trauma, home life, parenthood, boundaries being pushed, mental health – all just a few pieces of a puzzle that are the combination of stress.
As interpreters, we experience anxiety and stress; whether it be from the consumer, the situation we are interpreting, or from the experiences that we bring with us into the assignment. This workshop will be taught in ASL.

Friday Morning

The ABCs of Private Practice: Administration, Bookkeeping, and Contracts with Ashley Euwins & Summer Coleman

An introductory workshop detailing requirements for an interpreter to begin and run their own private practice.
Workshop will delve into: various types of business structures and how to organize them; bookkeeping softwares and practice to streamline expense tracking and filing of taxes; a discussion on determining rates, contracts, and current industry standards. This workshop will be taught in English with ASL interpretation.

Expansion Techniques: Scaffolding Our Space with Bill Ross

American Sign Language and spoken English are very different languages and to achieve message equivalency interpreters must incorporate expansion techniques into their interpretation. The seven recognized
expansion techniques are: Contrasting, Faceting, Reiteration, Utilizing 3D Space, Explaining by Example, Couching or
Scaffolding, and Describe then Do. The goal of expansion techniques is to improve clarity – they are used in order to make
implicit information in the source language more explicit in the target language. In this workshop we will unpack all of the
expansion techniques, but we will focus our energy on utilizing 3D space, which is invariably coupled with classifiers. If
interpreters are unfamiliar with expansion techniques, the resulting work will demonstrate unnatural phrasing, incorrect
grammatical structures, and errors in production. During this workshop interpreters will be exposed to all of the expansion techniques, yet we will focus our energy on correctly using classifiers, 3D space, and scaffolding all found in the accurate use of American Sign Language. This workshop will be taught in ASL.

Staffing Legal Assignments w/ Anna McDuffie

Staffing a court case is no easy matter. Whether you are interested in legal interpreting or you are the assignment coordinator, but unsure who and how many interpreters to send to court. This workshop is for you - we will examine multiple elements of the courtroom, the case, and the participants. When Deaf people are called to court (whether as a witness, a juror, or the offender) there are necessary steps to follow in order to staff every legal assignment. Adhering to best practices will enable the interpreter to approach each legal assignment with the appropriate resources, behaviors, and the ability to identify potential conflicts. This workshop will unpack the legal assignment and the various steps along-the-way in order to genuinely be prepared for the legal arena.
Interpreters should consider what to do upon arrival, practical suggestions (as well as) best practices for addressing court personnel – from the bailiff to the judge, swearing in, and the “art” of staffing legal assignments. Finally, as the interpreter we will examine the various roles and responsibilities of the interpreter and differences between proceedings, table, and investigative interpreting. This workshop will be taught in ASL.

Friday Afternoon

Sight Translation for Interpreters with Jose Peralez III

Doing Sight Translation is an everyday occurrence for the sign language interpreter working in educational settings. Even though this is a daily practice, many interpreters are at a loss of how to approach sight translations, different techniques, and are unaware in giving a translation with a time constraint.

In this workshop, we will discuss a variety of techniques using Sight Translation, how to apply these techniques when testing for the Texas Board for Evaluation of Interpreters Basic and Advanced level tests, and dispel some myths about what Sight Translation is, when to use it, and who to use it with. This workshop will be taught in ASL.

Interpreting Like Deaf People Talk with Bill Ross

This workshop will address features that naturally occur in American Sign
Language; that may not be present in the language of second language learners. The goal of our interpreting is to use language that is readily understood by our consumers. In light of this, we must strive to adapt our interpretations and language usage so that it resembles that of native and natural users of the language. If we wish for our interpretation to be accessible to Deaf consumers, ASL features such as non-manual markers, use of space, classifiers, ASL structure/grammar, expansion techniques, along with other features, must be incorporated into our interpretation. This workshop will introduce various features with suggestions on incorporating such
features into our work and language; either expansion techniques or cohesive devices. [This workshop provides participants an opportunity to practice incorporating 1-3 expansion techniques or entry level cohesive devices into their language.]

Give Me a Hand! Applied Skill Development for Educational Interpreters with Katherine Robertson

Educational interpreters face many demands on a daily basis, from challenging teacher discourse to ever-evolving educational goals and content-specific vocabulary. Working in the mainstream, alone for most of the day, educational interpreters often do not get the opportunity to see their peers work or receive feedback on their own interpreted product. This workshop, focusing on the major areas of voice-to-sign and sign-to-voice interpreting, provides an opportunity for educational interpreters to focus on education-specific skills, such as incorporating content-area vocabulary, and come together and lend each other a hand through peer support and feedback. This workshop will feature an opportunity to interpret real lessons from real classroom teachers and voice for student signers. This workshop will be taught in English with ASL interpretation.

Friday Evening

"Cromania!" performance with Crom Saunders

Saturday Morning

Interpreting: The Dark Side with Bill Ross

The interpreting profession has a sense of camaraderie unlike many other professions. As a human service profession, we have the honor and privilege of being present at some of the most sacred moments in the lives of Deaf people. Yet, in spite of all this goodness, there is a darker, less desirable side to our profession. Some of the “dark marks” that occur within our profession are directly related to horizontal (or lateral) violence, the absence of grace and compassion for our colleagues, and personal/professional ethical violations. These are just a few of the “weeds” growing in the field of interpreting, however, it does not have to remain this way. This workshop will address becoming agents of change, deliberately building goodwill, and additional strategies to become undivided, whole practitioners for the benefit of our colleagues, and for the benefit of the people we serve. As we address the ethical concerns of our professional interactions, we are actively working to equalize the playing field. This workshop will be taught in ASL.

Bill Nye Who? with Crom Saunders

How do you interpret a medical consultation? Describe thrombosis? What’s the sign for a heart or gastric bypass? How can you visually describe schizophrenia? This workshop will help participants develop general tools for dealing with specialized vocabulary in several branches of
medical focus, and to broaden the use of their already developed skills to turn jargon into understandable and sign-able concepts. This workshop will be taught in ASL.

Do No Harm with Calista Heard, Rachel Hollis, and D'Andra Parsons

Working Lunch and OKRID Annual Meeting

Saturday Afternoon

Song, Sermon, and Scripture! Church is a Challenge! with Bill Ross

This workshop will address interpreting in church, one of the most challenging and
complex environments for many sign language interpreters. Multiple elements that are typically reserved for the church;
prayer, special songs, cantatas lend to its unique challenges. Furthermore, sermons and Scripture frequently cross various
types of genres (i.e., narrative, persuasive arguments, procedural information, and anecdotal comments) while also
moving through several styles of linguistic register. Our desire is to be able to manage both register and genre while addressing the unique language of the church. We know sermons can contain difficult linguistic features such as archaic texts, allegories, metaphors and moving expressions of adoration, worship, and exaltation. Finally, this workshop is a perfect place to practice the atypical delivery of spiritual content through songs, hymns, homilies, and passages of Scripture. [This workshop is taught primarily from the Christian/Protestant perspective]

What the %$#@! Did You Just Sign?? with Crom Saunders

The use of words and phrases that are considered obscenities or foul language in spoken English discourse are not always used the same way or with the same subtext in ASL and Deaf culture environment (in fact is often used in non-offensive or derogatory manner) and often can present difficulties in voicing ASL discourse accurately or receptive comprehension in conversation. This workshop will clarify the actual contextual meanings of specific words and phrases as they are used in ASL discourse and the best way to voice or otherwise interpret these words/phrases. This workshop will be taught in ASL.

Unintended Biases of Good Interpreters with Holly Palermo

We all strive to be good interpreters, but what if we have biases we don’t mean to have or don’t even know we have? This webinar, inspired by the book “Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People,” will seek to answer these questions. Using direct instruction, storytelling, discussion, and different types of online tests, participants will learn when and how biases are formed, where biases reside in the brain, and where those biases can manifest when interpreting. Participants will also take online tests to identify their personal implicit biases and learn research-based effective strategies for mitigating those biases. The training will support a continuous mindset that balances diversity, inclusion, and allyship. This workshop will be conducted in ASL.