ASL And Deaf Cultural Tutoring

I have been an NIC Certified American Sign Language Interpreter for 5 years, and have been professionally interpreting for 10 years. I graduated from California State University, Fresno with a degree in Communicative Disorders and Deaf Studies: Interpreting emphasis. I have several years experience in educational K-12 interpreting, post-secondary, collegate, and community settings. Community settings include mental health, medical, and just about everything in between. While I was living in CA, I held a Disaster Response Interpreting credential for the state. This allowed me to interpret for press conferences and meetings regarding national, state, and local disaster topics. I have experience in VRS (Video Relay Services) with Sorenson Communications, which allowed me the experience to work with the many wonderful Deaf and Hard of Hearing community members nationwide. My last full-time position was with Amazon as an American Sign Language Specialist. This position entailed not only interpreting, but educating about and enforcing equality, accessabilty and culture to improve Amazon as whole.

Along my professional carreer, I have had the wonderful opportunity to mentor and coach not only the language and signs of ASL, but the interpreting process. I have worked with college level interns looking to get into the field, as well as interpreters that are looking to get certification and what testing processes look and feel like.

When I was 10, I met a Deaf person for the first time. A young girl came into my class and in followed her interpreter. I thought it was her dad, and I thought it was strange that in 5th grade, someones parent was walking them into a classroom. The first announcement was who the new student was, and why this man was here. I was fascinated and my eyes were open. I went home and told my parents that I wanted to be an interpreter when I grew up.

I am passionate about providing a bridge between the Deaf and hearing worlds, and trying to make the day to day ongoings for Deaf, as seamless as possible. I invision a world where ASL is more widespread and people are able to communicate freely and understand that being Deaf is a cultural identity and not a disability. I love being apart of up and coming interpreters goals and dreams, and also working with families that may have their own personal goals.

I worked with a family who had a son with Down Syndrome, Autism, and was Deaf. He had very little language and was low-functioning. I spent a summer with him, and by the end, he was able to communicate basic needs and wants and was a lot happier. This experience gave me so much gratitude for the people I get to meet and the community I am able to work with. I hope to bring joy to the lives I encounter, as much as they bring me joy!