Lynne Eighinger

Many interpreters regard team interpreting as a protection against repetitive motion injury but it's much more. Team interpreting, when it's done well, allows a fuller, more complete message to be delivered and allows interpreters, through the presence of a "safety net" to push the limits of their skills. It also presents wonderful opportunities for growth and skill development. This workshop will outline reasons for team interpreting assignments—whatever their length—as well as skills and attitudes needed for success in team interpreting assignments. It will also help interpreters take the focus off the personal in order to become better teammates and better serve the interests of consumers.

• Saturday, 9:00 am - Noon (Ebony)

Sherri Roberts

[Co-sponsored by the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, RSA Region VI Interpreter Education Project, Grant #H160A000003-02]

This workshop will look at Bloom's Taxonomy and compare it to the skills needed for effective interpreting. Interpreters should come to this workshop prepared to examine their own work and diagnose the skills needed to improve their interpreting. All participants will leave with an action plan to further develop the skills discussed in this workshop.

• Beginning Level -- Friday, 9:00 am - Noon (Ebony)
• Intermediate Level -- Friday, 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm(Ebony)

Trix Bruce

[Co-sponsored by the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, RSA Region VI Interpreter Education Project, Grant #H160A000003-02]

Non-manual signals (NMS) in American Sign Language enrich and clarify the meaning of manual signs. Come and learn that art of painting your face with a full spectrum of NMS colors and designs.

Non-Manual Signals include: 1) Non-Manual Adverbs 2) Lexical Non-Manual Behaviors 3) Non-Manual Grammatical Markers 4) Emotional States / Evaluative judgments 5) Prosodic Structure 6) Discourse Structure 7) Turn Taking 8) Backchannel Feedback 9) Grammatical “Sound” Markers, and 10) Mouth Movements.

This workshop will focus on developing accurate non-manual signals and markers as used in ASL. Demonstrations of each category of facial behaviors and head movements will be shown in context. By the end of this workshop, you’ll be an artist!

• Friday, 9:00 am - Noon (South Salon)
• Saturday, 9:00 am - Noon (South Salon)

Mike McMillion

This workshop will enable the participant to target a needed aspect of educating the whole child. Young adults in the classroom are in need of language models to develop fluency in language. They are flooded with visual representations of English. It is critical that their visual language (the interpreter or others who sign) be presented with accuracy and clarity. Just as non deaf children often hear new words carefully pronounced to insure understanding, so too the auditory impaired child needs words fingerspelled carefully and accurately to maintain learning.

• Sunday, 9:00 am - Noon (Central Salon)

Lynne Eighinger

This presentation will focus on the discrete components of Register and an analysis of register variances across cultures. A foundation of register will scaffold toward recognition of the differences between formal, consultative and informal in ASL and English and analyzing video clips demonstrating similar concepts presented across registers in both English and ASL. Video clips have been specially developed to challenge interpreters to develop register-appropriate interpretations of the same topic across registers developing a variety of interpretations for the same information.

• Sunday, 9:00 am - Noon (South Salon)

Lisa Gold (Lisandra Cruz Cortes Gold)

[Co-sponsored by the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, RSA Region VI Interpreter Education Project, Grant #H160A000003-020]

An interpreter’s day in Texas cities, where Spanish is used in everyday encounters, is filled with wonder. One wonders if the consumer with a Spanish surname will speak Spanish, English or a combination thereof. One wonders if the consumer who is deaf will be using ASL, MSL (or any other sign language in the 19 Spanish speaking countries), or both. One wonders if high school Spanish is enough to read fingerspelling of Spanish. One wonders if one possesses what it takes to work with Latino/Hispanic individuals. Wonder no more! Come find out how a Latino/Hispanic culture can impact your work.

El día del intérprete que trabaja en las ciudades de Texas en donde se habla español a diario está lleno de preguntas. Uno se pregunta si el consumidor con nombre o apellido en español habla español, inglés o usa los dos idiomas. Uno se pregunta si el consumidor sordo utiliza LSA, LSM (o cualquier otro lenguaje de señas de uno de los 19 países de habla hispana), u ambos. Uno se pregunta si el español de escuela secundaria es suficiente para leer el deletreo manual en español. Uno se pregunta si uno posee lo que se necesita para trabajar con personas latinas/hispanas. ¡No se haga mas preguntas! Venga y descubra como la cultura Latina/Hispana puede tener un impacto en su trabajo.

• Thursday, 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm (Central Salon)
• Friday, 9:00 am - Noon (Central Salon)

Doug Dittfurth

A person who interprets psychological, neuropsychological and/or psycho-educational evaluations can be put in a highly stressful and counterproductive situation if the interpreter is not familiar with testing protocol and the individual testing instruments being utilized. Unknowingly, an interpreter may give the answer in their interpretation. Handled inappropriately, a spelling test may become a sign vocabulary inventory. Interpreting for assessment staffings where testing result interpretations are related to a particular environment, can be as stressful, if not more, without an equally adequate information base.

Participants will learn how to overcome these barriers through various examples given and demonstrations: Several commonly used testing instruments will be presented and discussed during this hands-on presentation. Possibilities include: Bender Visual Motor Gestalt, House-Tree-Person, Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Raven Standard Progressive Matrices and Thematic Apperception Tests. Discussion will also cover vocabulary standards in testing, measurement and statistics. Information about the Diagnostic and Statistics Manual (DSM-IV), used in all diagnostic/evaluation reporting, will also be included

• Friday, 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm (Teak)

Carla Mathers

[Co-sponsored by TCDHH]

New and exciting developments regarding interpreting in law enforcement settings have occurred during the past few years that competent ASL interpreters should know and understand. Courts are scrutinizing the work-product of ASL interpreters who are hired to assist the prosecutorial side of criminal cases more frequently and more critically than ever before. Contemporary socio-linguistic research into a suspect's assertion of his Sixth Amendment right to an attorney during the Miranda process and the court's view of that assertion as either powerful (direction) or powerless (indirection) language (and thereby effective or ineffective respectively) exists with which every interpreter working in law enforcement settings should be intimately familiar. Deaf interpreters, as well, are being called upon more and more frequently to take on the responsibility of ensuring the suspect's constitutional rights at interrogation are protected. Deaf interpreters and hearing interpreters must possess the ability to make a defensible argument for 1) the necessity of their work, 2) the accuracy of their work, and 3) the integrity of their work. Are we ready?

This fast-paced seminar presents a balanced mix of theory and hands-on practice for trained Deaf and hearing court interpreters. This seminar will focus on the interpreter's role and responsibility in interpreting in the law enforcement setting. The information presented will include critical description of the constitutional underpinnings of a suspect's rights in a police-citizen encounter, the law of privileged communications, the ethical duties of the law enforcement interpreter, the evidentiary requirement of authentication of prior interpreting work, the concept of testifying with respect to the content of a prior interpreted event, text analysis and extensive interpretation practice and analysis of interpretations.

The seminar presents an overview of relevant and timely case law explaining the court's view of interpreting in the law enforcement setting, including a critical look at the competing goals and objectives of law enforcement personnel versus ASL interpreters and the deaf community. The ally perspective, more suited to the role of law enforcement interpreting than proceedings interpreting, and its facility in pursuing cultural adjustments will be analyzed including hands-on practice defending decisions made with respect to cultural adjustments. Participants will discuss how the ally role affects their work and the concomitant restraints on future work in relation to the case. The participants will discuss and practice working with a qualified Deaf interpreter in the law enforcement setting.

Participants will discuss, practice and analyze an interpreted interrogation from the time of initial contact through the end of the formal proceedings. Participants will practice and analyze those factors to assess in accepting a law enforcement assignment. Participants will discuss, practice and analyze preparing the officer(s) and the Deaf suspect for working with an interpreter in an ethical and defensible manner. Participants will discuss, practice and analyze interpretations of the Miranda Warnings. Participants will discuss the legal justifications for requiring an interpreter to testify with respect to a prior law enforcement assignment, and they will practice and analyze testifying to their credentials (authentication) and to their prior interpreting work (content). Throughout the seminar, the presence or absence of the qualified Deaf interpreter will be discussed and debated.

Interpreters in the law enforcement setting work in decidedly the most challenging legal setting today. Law enforcement interpreters face the very real possibility that they will be called as witnesses in the later proceedings emanating from the interpreted assignment. Since defense attorneys are constitutionally and ethically obligated to present a zealous defense, the quality of the law enforcement interpretation is frequently the centerpiece of the defense case. As a result, the interpreters who venture into this setting must understand their unique role and must be fully prepared to present a defensible position to a court of law questioning their work. Are we ready?

• Friday, 9:00 am - Noon (Garden Terrace)
• Friday, 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm (Garden Terrace)
• Saturday, 9:00 am - Noon (Garden Terrace)
• Sunday, 9:00 am - Noon (Garden Terrace)

Michaela Conway

This workshop will give a basic overview of the Federal and Texas court systems, the chronology of litigation, courtroom procedures, and basic legal terminology typically heard in the courtroom.

• Sunday, 9:00 am - Noon (Ebony)

Roseanne De Vlaming

Note: Each track is a separate workshop.

Track I: Medical Interpreting: More than just terminology! Background and skills needed. Is there such a thing as a routine medical appointment? Left fielder or team player? Cultural Competency in Medicine. Dynamics of the medical interview. Examples of cultural conflicts and strategies to resolve them.

• Thursday, 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm (Cypress)

Track II: Medical Interpreting: Options for communication. Signing medical terminology in context. Language assessment and modalities of communication for different populations General medical interview questions. Legal issues i.e. Consent Forms, Advanced Directives, Specialty areas in medicine: ER, OB-GYN, Orthopedics.

• Friday, 9:00 am - Noon (Cypress)

Track III: Medical Interpreting: Options for communication. Specialty areas in medicine: Diagnostic Tests , Ethics and Case Conferencing.

• Friday, 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm (Cypress)

Adan Penilla

Vocabulary and name signs of information from the Middle East are not yet standardized. Few sources are available on this topic; interpreters who face this problem are those from the educational and international settings. This workshop is one of a few that deal with this type of information.

In this meeting, Islam is explained and many signs are demonstrated as to how they are used in an ASL discourse. Some vocabulary that is shown in sign formation is: Islam, Muslim, terrorist, mosque, Taj Mahal, Mohammad, and many others. Country signs will be in the range of Afghanistan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and many others. This workshop will benefit interpreters of all disciplines whether the information applies to ones current assignment or future assignments. It will also increase ones skill level.

• Saturday, 9:00 am - Noon (Teak)
• Sunday, 9:00 am - Noon (Teak)

Kristin Lund

[Co-sponsored by the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, RSA Region VI Interpreter Education Project, Grant #H160A000003-020]

This 3-hour workshop will encompass different aspects of our professional fields and how the impact can be detrimental. Ideas and techniques to unite the interpreters into one strong partisanship community. The participants will leave the workshop with the understsanding of the dangerous trend occuring within our community. Unification of the interpreting field, away from persecution. Acknowledge the diverse resources the interpreter(s) can "own". Awareness of the microsplitting trend the interpreter field is experiencing.

• Thursday, 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm (Teak)
• Friday, 9:00 am - Noon (Teak)

Michael Fehmer & Buddy Bauer

This workshop is designed as an introduction to interpreting in Protestant church settings. Objectives are to: 1) introduce ecclesiastic related signs and concepts; 2) prayers, hymns and other frozen texts; 3) how to improve your skills.

• Part I -- Saturday, 9:00 am - Noon (North Salon)
• Part II -- Sunday, 9:00 am - Noon (North Salon)

Lucy James & Linda Stauffer

Tenet #7 of the Code of Ethics states "Interpreters/transliterators shall strive to further knowledge and skills through participation in workshops, professional meetings, interaction with professional colleagues, and reading of current literature in the field." Many interpreters follow this tenet of the Code by attending workshops, but participation in professional organizations can also fulfill the requirements to attend professional meetings and interact with professional colleagues, especially by taking leadership roles within their professional organizations. This workshop will outline avenues for service in local chapters, TSID and/or RID, either through committee or Board service, and challenge participants to choose an area of service, thus satisfying this particular tenet of our Code of Ethics.

Participants will be provided with an overview of the RID and TSID organizations; their board and committee structures and qualifications and duties to serve in these positions, and discuss opportunities for service. Additionally, information will be shared on how to set up a local chapter and suggest ways for participants to be involved with a current local chapter in the area where they live.

• Sunday, 9:00 am - Noon (Cypress)

Helene Gilbert & Henry Whalen

[Co-sponsored by Gallaudet University Regional Center at Johnson County Community College]

This activity will be an all-day "shareshop" focusing on the use of semantically appropriate ASL concepts. Traditionally, semantics or conceptual accuracy is approached from an English translation viewpoint; as in the sign equivalents for "back" or "run" and their application in interpreting. This workshop will concentrate on the connotative meaning of ASL concept pairs or triads that have particular appropriate use; such as EXPERT and SKILL; and their appropriate uses and English equivalents. The presenter will try to be sure to have native, Deaf ASL signers at the workshop for application and use of signed concepts.

• Part I -- Friday, 9:00 am - Noon (North Salon)
• Part II -- Friday, 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm (North Salon)

Mike McMillion

This workshop will allow participants to wrestle with the basic underlying concepts that are within texts. Many words in English do not have a signed representation in ASL. Therefore, a combination of conceptual signs must be produced to make an "equivalent" representation of the source word or phrase. This workshop will make you think about words as you hear them to determine "what is really being said". Sometimes, language can be tricky.

• Saturday, 9:00 am - Noon (Central Salon)

Nancy Thomas & Roberts Giuntoli

Welcome to Corporate America! As professional Deaf people move higher in the ranks of the corporate world, conference calls become a daily event. Interpreters find themselves challenged to effectively and appropriately manage this type of communication.

Topics covered in this three-hour presentation will include a variety of possible configurations of the call, identifying the speaker, taking and holding the floor, appropriately interrupting, and working with a partner. The use of technology and equipment will also be discussed, as well as what information you will need before the call begins.

An experienced user of interpreters for conference calls will give his insight and the consumers' point of view.

• Saturday, 9:00 am - Noon (Cypress)

Lynda Benson

This workshop will provide tax saving tips and will include information on which forms to use for tax reporting, what expenses of your personal automobile are deductible, and whether or not you can take home office expense. Other items that will be covered include cell phones, contract labor vs. employee, health insurance premiums, depreciation, IRS audits, and a discussion on general tax deductions.

• Friday, 9:00 am - Noon (Acacia)
• Friday, 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm (Acacia)

Trix Bruce

[Co-sponsored by the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, RSA Region VI Interpreter Education Project, Grant #H160A000003-02]

As a native English speaker you work within a linear language, but ASL uses space and movement through classifiers to show a visual picture. When using Classifiers, are you able to clearly portray the English message into ASL? Do you know how to clearly show a car accident, a Lasik eye surgery, or descsribing a character? This workshop provides participants with an overview of using Classifiers, by focusing on what they mean, when to use them and how they are used. Participants will explore various classifiers to express a visual picture breaking away from English words to translate ideas visually. This workshop strongly focuses on ASLstorytelling, ASL performing, and ideas on how to use the appropriate handshape to show a clearer picture of the context involved.

• Thursday, 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm (South Salon)
• Friday, 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm (South Salon)

J. Michael Moore

Do you need to create an online presence for your interpreting practice, your SIG, your Chapter, or your committee on the web? Do you want to understand web publishing so you can interpret better? If you want to learn basic web page creation, this workshop is for you! You will learn basic HTML, the language used to author web pages. You will also be exposed to freely available software programs for creating web pages without having to write out your own HTML. We will use a freely available web page editor to create a mini web site. Finally, you will learn how to put your website on the Internet. We will take the mini-site we create and upload it to the Internet. You will get to see the whole process! In the end you can get the exposure you deserve on the web, and thus Continue a Strong Texas Tradition!

• Thursday, 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm (North Salon)

Cynthia Brown & Buddy Bauer

Have you ever been called for a routine assignment and noticed variant body language, dress style, use of language, attitudes, etc? Racial and ethnic minorities in U.S. make up 25% of the population, 33% among children and adolescents. This is just one example of how culture intercepts our everyday lives, both professionally and on the individual level. This workshop is designed to promote awareness of diversity training. Participants will explore their own value systems, examine different definitions of diversity and employ practical tools for both professional and interpersonal dynamics.

• Friday, 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm (Central Salon)