Sign Language Interpreting in Medical Settings

I'm a professional sign language interpreter, nine years experience. PM me.

Last May I was involved in a car accident and had to spend a week in a coma, had a tracheotomy put in and when I woke up from the coma, I was unable to speak for another four days.

I didn't think it would be so bad as I am somewhat proficient with ASL (my brother is hearing impaired and I 'intrepret' at work). However none of my nurses, doctors or other care givers knew fundamental sign language. The only person I ran into who did know was a 'social care worker' who took several classes in ASL but hardly got the chance to use it. She had even forgotten her numbers. I didn't get to meet her until four days after waking from the coma. I was able to get her to understand my concern for my father who had to drive hundreds of miles to see me and was supposed to have arrived the day before, that I needed my glasses and to make sure he was alright.

But she and I muddled through. Fortunately for me (unfortunately for her), shortly after she and I talked my tracheotomy came out and I could speak normally again.

I really had thought there would have been someone around who would have known sign language as it's a large, university hospital and services a wide range of the surrounding communities.

Another time, at home, I had occasion to run into a Deaf couple I know at the emergency room. The gal was incredibly ill and yet they had to wait *hours* for another friend who teaches ASL but is Hearing to come down and intrepret for them before anything could be done.

I'm not sure how much that helps what you wanted, but it does give an insight to how *rare* it is to find ASL qualified people in the medical field.

Rabe...

Dunno, but here is a tidbit. Different countries have different sign language. I collected some data on Chinese sign language, which has many sign words related to Chinese characters.

Ah! But did you know that Chinese sign language on the mainland, and the Chinese language in Taiwan are different? The sign language in Taiwan is actually related to Japanese sign language, a relic of the Japanese occupation of Taiwan.

The trivialist of triva.

Rabe said:

Last May I was involved in a car accident and had to spend a week in a coma, had a tracheotomy put in and when I woke up from the coma, I was unable to speak for another four days.

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This should be a story. Write it! Truth is stranger than fiction.

Prawn said:

This should be a story. Write it! Truth is stranger than fiction.

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I have two stories (not sure if they are shorts, novellas or novels really) based on the incident.

If I ever finish the novel I'm working on now...plus the novella I've been working on for my alter ego.