Deaf Disempowerment and Today’s Interpreter
New Jersey Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, Eatontown, NJ
Trudy’s thoughts:
This group was one of the most attentive, open-minded and supportive groups I’ve ever worked with. I felt so welcomed, and that really helped set the tone for me. And the group was incredibly gracious about my shameful vice: Real Housewives of New Jersey. Such kind people, indeed.
This was a bit different from previous Deaf Disempowerment presentations I had done. Usually, I do a 30-minute presentation, then the participants choose whether to attend the follow-up workshop (which takes on a think-tank format) or the other workshops the conference offers. This time, I was asked to incorporate both the presentation and workshop into a two-hour format, with all conference participants present.
An interesting challenge was that the room was a good size, but not in the right direction. The room was more wide than long, so people were on either side of me–which made for some challenging sight lines at times. My neck actually hurt from having to swivel from left to right so much. Even so, the overall experience was very positive, and I credit the audience for this. A lot of great questions were asked, and they will be used to tweak future combined presentation-and-workshop events.
Evaluation comments:
Very excellent! Great workshop! The presenters were wonderful, knowledgeable, and professional. Thank you!
Her presentation style was excellent. Truly enjoyed her explanation and teaching style.
Excellent examples. Extremely important topic!
This would be great as an all-day workshop, open and great discussion on topics, would be great to have her back to NJ for an all-day workshop.
Gave me great tools to use to keep evaluating myself, my role and my work. Thank you for highlighting areas for me to watch out…always better to do that than regret in hindsight!
Very open feelings to presentation, not judgmental but mature perspective.
Real-life examples make our own work relevant. Sometimes I ask myself, “Could this situation ever come up in a workshop?”
Fabulous – really got to the meat of the “little indignities” that Deaf people face everyday.
Fantastic! Truly will inspire more thought and discussion on topic. Thank you!!