The South West's own Lynn Stewart-Taylor famously set up the #WhereIsTheInterpreter campaign... She launched the #WhereIsTheInterpreter hashtag on social media asking the Prime Minister's office to provide a BSL English Interpreter live at televised national addresses during the COVID-19 crisis.

Read more about that here: https://limpingchicken.com/2021/06/15/whereistheinterpreter-the-story-so-far/

The battle is still ongoing in the UK sadly... but what is happening in other countries? What are examples of good practice?

The South West region has invited Lindsey D. Snyder, ASL interpreter and trainer from Washington DC, to talk about her experiences interpreting at the White House for the Joe Biden administration. Lindsey first presented this at EFSLI 2023, and it was fascinating, so we begged her to present to us online!

Lindsey is learning BSL and will present in BSL and spoken English. Interpreters have been booked.

DATE : 11th November 2024
TIME : 6.30pm to 7.30pm (Lindsay lives in Washington DC!)
TITLE OF TRAINING: We the People: Placing Sign Language Interpreters in the White House 

In 2020, The National Association of the Deaf successfully sued the Trump administration over a lack of access via ASL interpreter to Covid briefings and information about the ongoing pandemic. 

With the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, however, there was an opportunity to establish a policy change and the Biden/Harris administration has not only provided ASL interpreters for Covid briefings, but established new protocols for providing interpreters for press briefings, and any events with the President, First Lady, Vice President and Second Gentlemen that are broadcast via livestream. 

This change culminated in a White House first–the hire of two staff interpreters, a CDI (Certified Deaf Interpreter) and a CHI (Certified Hearing Interpreter) to interpret events and aid in creating overall structural change. 

This presentation will discuss how the shift in policy has impacted the access rights of the larger deaf community, the challenges of establishing a new structure in an formidable institution, and the approaches and strategies the CDI/CHI team use when interpreting for a range of styles and events.

This event will not be recorded.