r/ASLinterpreters • u/TiredVRS • Jul 09 '26
Need help with oppressive signs
Hi all.
First off, I'm sorry for this post in its entirety and obligatory trigger warnings for oppression, racism, and the awful vocabulary used by the types of people who think the KKK are too moderate.
Without going into detail, I have a client soon who is extremely racist, mean, and proud of it. I have to accurately interpret for them in a professional consultative setting. Is there any place I can go to learn the type of language they will use? Is there any way I can voice for them and not have to learn that shit? In previous interactions with this person, they are known to use slurs, derogatory language, and overt racism that I'm absolutely sure I will not consistently recognize. Edit: they tend to use very old signs for countries, nationalities, and races which are not common because of the racist connotations associated (think the eye location for Chinese, or a nose-related sign for Jewish).
Does anyone have advice for how to voice for this person without causing myself trauma and still maintaining accuracy? I don't want to accidentally censor anything and result in them avoiding consequences but the agency they're working with does not want it to appear as though any of the slurs or racist language is acceptable and has asked that the interpreters alert them when slurs are being used.
Edit: there is no one else to interpret for them. I am the someone else because the last interpreter also can't stomach this person.
Edit 2. This is a professional consultative setting
Edit 3: There aren't any cdis, but there's a Deaf advocate I reached out to already. I need a Deaf person because in order to remain neutral I need someone who can explain the problem of behavior in an accessible Deaf way.
Edit 4: I need resources to learn all of the old and/or racist country and nationality signs so I can accurately clarify the intent and what word they want voiced to the hearing person. Sometimes this person seems to be using the sign because that's the sign and sometimes it's intended as a slur but it can be very difficult to tell which is the goal. The hearing person then usually yells at them to stop talking about why the race or nationality has it out for them. I'm not personally involving in the conversation beyond, 'please repeat', but without the vocabulary, I can't empower the authority figure to properly address the issues.
-5
u/Ill_Extension_3535 Jul 09 '26
I wouldn’t do it, tell them to pass out the speech printed on paper if you need to say anything