Interpreter Interview and Response

Cole Boeck

INT 440 : Ethics and Decision-Making for Interpreters

November 17, 2022
Interpreter Interview: Hannah Hardcastle (she/they; I switch between pronouns for them in the
responses.)
Queer interpreter found through Naomi Blue

Questions and responses

1.  What are your top five values?

 Autonomy and people’s rights to that. They mostly work with adults, (now
freelancing, only 2 years working so far, once a week in k12 high-school,
and occasionally RARELY sub for middle school, general community work
and some post-secondary. No VRS.) She does not have a business license
or LLC for here to do that. Certain types of business licenses are mainly for
legal responsibility (she doesn’t pay/employ anyone, doesn’t have a TIN
uses SSN for W-9s. Just that has been good. Her business is her body mind
and hands so here that’s fine without a business license. In CA maybe need
a business license, not OR.)
 Accessibility (even in the day to day) (“top two for sure”)
 Confidentiality comes up, they talk more on this else where
 Connection: We are all still human!! Can build relationships, expansive role,
part of the community too. Do the Deaf clients want that, are they only
looking for lang/access, FIT DEAF NEEDS.
2.  How do you handle situations where you witness abuse/neglect?
 Doesn’t actually come up that much, They’ve never experienced it
themself.
 Tangential: she was voicing in a class for someone doing an observation.
Teacher mentioned that she (the teacher) was a mandatory reporter as a
concept but not handling the direct material.
 For a more general theme: Parents not learning sign or how to
communicate with kids. That is hard (“suckssss”), you see how it is really
hard on the kids.
 Another tangential: in full time work Deaf interpreters deal with a lot of
oppression (lack of work accessibility).
 Persist through it, its rough.
 She suggests putting up emotional barriers for things, with closeness (ex. If
you work 1:1 in a school; this can be very hard).
3. How do you deal with ethically challenging situations?
 They referenced Audrey Loudenbach’s research on why people come into
the field, things becoming internalized. Her reason was she wanted to
provide access, she likes people, she likes language. Just made sense.
 Knowing what their role is, where their job ends, the REST is just the
clients. That helps them. Watching things play out and see what happens.
 Job training, some materials that were not accessible (no captions or
whatnot), client and manager talked about options (no captions on many
outside of it), troubleshooting. Shuffling to take advantage of the
 interpreter there (so the attendees could watch the videos and they could
interpret the materials that need the int, and watch the other captioned
ones tomorrow).
 Encouraging self-advocacy. Think-self, your decision.
 (On topic of self-advocating for breaks, etc.) “The interpretation will suffer
if I continue to work” (advocate for breaks)
a) She does a lot of team work, most of the time with much more
experienced people (following their lead for the most of the time),
can say, “hey I need to go to my car to get my sandwich, -yeah go
ahead’ “NEED coffee to team (4am to 2pm) and wanrs or asks about
grabbing coffee). They have mostly done 30 mins on, 30 off **
b) If alone, over an hour and a half, brain will become numb and fuzzy,
probably would simcom, “hey it’s been this long, if we can’t forsee
this wrapping up, the interpreter needs a break (warn clarify stuff
suffers)”
c) A lot of built in breaks nowadays, a lot of quick breaks like 5 mins
bathroom break. But people are generally happy to give breaks,
oftentimes they’ll need one themselves.
 They are very thoughtful before accepting on jobs or if they don’t trust
source.
4. How have you developed professional boundaries and what are they?
 She doesn’t share too much personal info, doesn’t really chat with the
hearing people.
 Deaf people don’t do too much “how’s the weather” chat. “So when did
you learn how to sign” from hearing a lot (she hates this).
 WORK VOICE; not sure if it’s a boundary or accidental. It helps. (Customer
service voice)
 Professional mindset. (their default for themself is overly casual so this is a
noted difference in presence and a proactive choice)
 EX: If a client is asking for a ride after a meeting. (Strict) No. No, I have to
go. Informing the agency to prevent this again.
 Agency says, if you have to go you have to go. If they ((hearing) consumers)
get upset too bad.
 Deaf people have good experience with working with interpreters.
Normally she is able to schedule or stays after so this helps
5.  What is your self-care routine? 
 Her therapy. She also has anxiety, so she tries to take care of that.
 “I don’t work on the weekends too much” (sometimes the differentials are
such good money, checks with partner at home to not disappoint and miss
out on relationship and self times) very intentional when accepting that.
6. What, overall, have been your most challenging and most rewarding
interpreting experiences?
 “I don’t really find the work rewarding. It’s just work.”
  When connections are being made, everyone understanding each other
and being kind, that’s good.
 It’s hard to see people being assholes in day to day life.
 Random non-involved people being an ass, but if someone is very involved
or repeatedly interrupts that can be hard, but usually people are kind and
friendly.
 When her brain is working really well, she catches all the fingerspelling,
“That was IT, Next Level” Having a second party validate those feelings
“yessss”
 There have been some really fun assignments, queer community. Some
assignments in memory (“I felt lucky I could enter the space, fun”) Not
“rewarding” but “I got to go, fun” “Getting to enter a space that I didn’t
think to attend or a community I didn’t know about”
7. What do you do to take care of your hands and prevent developing carpal
tunnel?
 “I get bad knots in back, but truly WORK OUT. Stretch, workout! And I
notice myself struggling when I don’t.” Her pinky could drag sometimes.
Mostly phone usage exacerbates this, not interpreting work.
Hydromassage, cupping. Insurance included cupping and that helped a lot.
 Weather, location influence. North Dakota’s weather was bad for her.
8. How often do you use/revisit documents such as Entry-To-Practice
Competencies, DC-S template, CPC?
 Not Much! After passing the new CASLI test, it’s really rare. “They are
more internalized, guiding my decisions.”
 Tenet 4.3 You need a client’s permission before having intern there,
“DUH.”
 When you actively practice them, you don’t need to obsess over them
9. The CPC discusses pro-bono work, when and how do you decide to do so?
 Agency offers pro-bono work sometimes. They’ve also done some
themself.
 Pro-bono ends up being the best assignments. Sometimes can get tips, if
people pay even if pro-bono She donates it (dragonboat team)
 Funeral work (ORID forum facebook page. A lot in the summer actually)
 Ask: Am I qualified? Am I a good fit? (If it were ALL DAY, JUST ONE). Am I
available? Does it fit my schedule? There’s ALWAYS someone else
available; someone else will volunteer. (Sometimes there are unfilled jobs
but MOST of the time! If needed, interns are a backup in those cases too.
10.  What situations have you faced where you weren’t sure if you were a good fit
or not and how did you come to your decision?
 With some agencies limited answers (can sometimes ask more q’s) (more
breaks, am I alone? Agency puts you in contact to someone who did that
before)
 Jobs are usually more chill than she expects/fears them to be.
  Worries about being under able, ask qs!! Doing so in advance means you
can easy rescind if needed.
11.  If you are comfortable, could you please share an interpreting situation when
you faced an ethical dilemma and what steps you took to go on?
 Stayed out of it; for feeling a friend who was unqualified to do the job got
it (scarcity). It’s a school district systemic issue.
12. Do you feel you are compensated appropriately for the demands of your job?
What does that compensation, or lack of compensation, look like (financial,
flexibility, emotional, etc.)?  
 W-2 (health insurance) jobs are good for that; some go straight to VRS
(though the program kind of says don’t do that?). 45 days for payment to
come in for her as a freelancer. 25 to 30% in taxes for non-W2. 2 banks
accounts, all non tax income in 1 (savings), and
 2 bank accounts. High APY savings accounts.
a) Savings account and Normal Checking.
b) ALL income into savings (Direct Deposit)
1. Once sitting there, leave 25% there, transfer to 75% to
checkings and then redelegate.
2. At end of year taxes are already prepped and spoken for.
 Sometimes need to negotiate. Prioritize time (some agencies pay cheaper
but are easier to deal with)
 There’s also freelance k12, you pay for insurance but it’s stable.
13.  How do you manage situations in which you may not be the most appropriate
interpreter (gender or ethnicity for example) but if you don’t take the job,
there will be no one?
 Just don’t accept it. Basically there’s always going to be someone. If there
isn’t someone, they aren’t looking hard enough or asking the right people.
People always have cancelations. 50% of assignments got canceled same
day with pandemic times.
 It sucks for the Deaf person but you don’t want to be a warm body. Better
it be postponed than to do harm.
 Say no and expect it to work out. Never had a “We just need somebody,
anybody” experience. It’s harder to not accept jobs when she’s taken the
time off.
14.  What is something you wish someone told you when you were an
interpreting student? 
 It’s a practice profession! If someone says you’re good enough to do it, and
you can do some things, you just have to try. You need to Do to Improve.
 Can’t pass NIC without performance, and schooling doesn’t fully prepare
you with real practice in the same way. (Take NIC later on then?)
 You can team with the Deaf person or the hearing person. VRS**
a) VRS call, person signing, you’re voicing. In close calls (parties are
familiar with one another/subject matter) consumers can basically
 do feeding. “Their roommate” “Oh Brent!” Making meaning together
instead of conduit style.
b) TRUSTING that the Deaf person knows what they’re doing and
need.
15.  What are some common ethical dilemmas you face and how do you approach
handling them? 
 (Skipped because we basically covered this already, she hasn’t dealt with
any herself head on yet, only 2 years in the field really).
16.  What has been the most challenging interpreted experience you’ve had and
the most rewarding?
 (Skipped. Again, we had already dealt with this earlier)
17.  Do you have any interpreter mentors, and if so, who are they and how did
you get connected?
 “I do have a mentor! And I have a lot of people I’ve worked with often
enough with rapport, can ask them Qs” (advice or playing with language,
asking around for info like CL for brain)
 Working together and getting that rapport to ask questions of before
asking to be a mentee.
 ACTUAL mentor (has other resources that aren’t full mentors), “I was
PICKY! It’s a big investment of time. Don’t want to be Preachy or I’ll-
Teach-You, it’s about questions, working together, etc.”
 Meeting every week at the start of mentorship (a year of building
relationship really), now like every 3 weeks so busy.
 BUILD A NETWORK! After panels in schools or classes, people can put
their phone numbers on board or emails, contact, buy them a coffee (“often
they refuse to let you pay or they buy you one, but even if you do pay it’s a
great deal for the info and connection”), ask them Qs. *Can ask for info
that would calm worries: ex. where would I go to the bathroom in between
jobs?
18.  What does an average day look like for you? What challenges and rewards
tend to be present? 
 She doesn’t think Freelancing is too hard, she normally has a million tabs
and spreadsheets of things, Super organized.
 Their biggest advice is to get to the gym.
 Salem is the good work (lives in Portland now) (differentials, mileage and
travel sometimes too)
 Emails tend to come in around 8 am to plan for the day or new
assignments.
 Scheduling depends on driving distance, how sleepy their partner is (5am
go to gym is Harder with that). “Manage myself and my anxiety!” Spring
adds dragonboat practice to their schedule.
 “Make sure when I accept an assignment that it’s within the timeframe of
my “On” hours. Back and forth to Salem is a known quantity (1hr 15 earlier
than prep; 1hr in case of traffic, 15 mins early standard)”
19. Do you have an LLC, or what are your thoughts on using one versus not?
 “I don’t think it’s necessary, maybe. Ask others, I’ve felt solid without.
Maybe it’s next level?”
20. How do you prepare for sub-optimal assignments/conditions?
 Always bring a book and a coat and snacks (water too)!
 Can ask, hey is there an interpreter whose done this before (what it looks
like, comfort and knowledge of the assignment) asking for another
interpreter’s experience. What can I expect.
 Specific questions help!
 “If it’s solo but longer than an hour, the agency I usually work for has
usually figured out why.”
21. How do your identities impact your decision making for whether or not to
take on an assignment, and how do you navigate those identities while on the
job?
 “I take assignments for queer and disabled interpreter requests because I
am. Not BIPOC not Male. If it’s female specific that usually is DDIDD or
Medical, that’s just usually a LOT and I don’t take it.”
 Usually assignments don’t list a preference for a specific type of
interpreter.
 “I try to match speaker well for affect and nonmanual usage that could be
perceived as implicit bias. Very intentional and warry of potentially
triggering signs.”
 Matching and making choices that match the consumers in the audience.
Reflection

From this interview I was relieved to feel a great amount of kinship with Hannah. It was

refreshing to hear them say that they don’t find the work to be “rewarding” in itself, but that it

was a job that has a lot of cool benefits (such as granting access to spaces and subjects that they

wouldn’t normally be involved with), and one that they chose due to similar interests and values

(loving languages, being social, supporting access and autonomy).

While the field has worked to get away from the patronizing views of beneficence or

charity, we have not escaped it entirely, and some part of the harsh swing into conduit

frameworks have taken most of the life out of the work as well. To see someone enjoying their

job, and having it as simple as that (though the job itself is far from it) was calming in a way.

Hannah also shared other similarities with me, she is queer and has anxiety, and finds great

comfort in prioritizing physical activity in her schedule. Being able to see her thriving in this

career helps to comfort me in knowing that I am capable, and that there is room in the field for

me (and people like me) in the future.

I learned that Salem is a hotspot for interpreting work, and that Portland is actually kind

of difficult in the market. Hannah has just recently gotten onto the Portland area agency lists, but

there is a big pay disparity in locations, as the huge presence of big agencies has pushed the rates

very low for work in Portland compared to elsewhere. This was surprising as we normally expect

that places where the cost of living is higher, that wages ought to follow. Additionally, Salem

agencies have paid with travel rates or reimbursement for mileage at times, which is another big

draw. This may be in part to Salem being the capitol of Oregon, as government centers will

usually have some hub of work and tend to have equitable benefits as well. Knowing this, I am
much more likely to look into moving near to Salem or Monmouth in the future to work as an

interpreter.

Something that struck me from this interview was how assured they came off as, that

even though they admitted to mistakes or shortcomings at times, and even as being still

somewhat new to the field, Hannah seemed like this was a comfortable role for them, that this

was something that they enjoyed and did well. She took accountability for herself, and while she

didn’t say that she found the work rewarding, it appeared to be at the bare minimum, truly

fulfilling.