6.17 4. Qualified Interpreters and Other Issues in Mainstream Settings

• Library: Disability Law and Practice, Vol. 3 (NY) 2017

4.. Qualified Interpreters and Other Issues in Mainstream Settings

For some students who are deaf, mainstreaming is clearly appropriate. For most such students, an interpreter is the virtual lifeline to all that occurs in the classroom, gym, cafeteria and school environs.¹³⁵ An interpreter must be provided not only during the school day but also for participation in sports and other extracurricular activities.¹³⁶

Given the student’s reliance on interpreting, it is critical that a person with adequate skills be provided. If either the material being explained by the teacher or the questions and answers of the other students are not interpreted with sufficient speed and accuracy, the deaf student learns only frustration. Sadly, this is often the case. The role is frequently assigned to a person with no interpreter training who may have taken only a single sign language course. The task of an interpreter, particularly in an educational setting, is extremely demanding, requiring specialized training and professional skills.

In 1985, the IDEA was amended to require that each state establish standards to ensure that personnel providing “related services” are “adequately prepared and trained.”¹³⁷ New York’s failure to adopt any interpreter standards was cited in 1989 by a hearing officer who denied a challenge to the interpreting provided by a teacher’s aide, who had taken two sign language courses five years earlier.¹³⁸

In large part as a result of parent advocacy, the New York State Education Department (NYSED) adopted interpreter guidelines in 1994.¹³⁹ In June 1997, the state Board of Regents followed by adopting a multistep plan to address the inadequate number of competent sign language...