More than 500,000 deaf persons in the U.S. are proud members of the deaf community yet they and their way of life remain either invisible or extraordinary, regrettable or heroic. Being deaf is framed as dis-abled, as deficient. “Solutions” are often objectifying or invalidating. American Sign Language/English Interpreters also have a problem: They, too, are placed within the frame of disability.
Laurie R. Shaffer, an interpreter for more than 30 years, holds a doctorate in Interpreting and Translations Studies from Gallaudet University and is Director and Assistant Professor of the ASL/English Interpreting BS degree program in the College of Professional Studies at the UNH Manchester. She will discuss how she learned from the deaf community to question whether efforts to create access to society’s mainstream are authentic or only for show. She has brought the question to councils and committees domestically and internationally. Now she brings it to the Lyceum.
