Deaf Wrestler Sues Over Interpreter Rules

VIDEO [CC] - Deaf News: A high school wrestler who is Deaf is suing MHSAA to have an interpreter with him on the mat.



DETROIT -- WXYZ - A Royal Oak High School wrestler who is Deaf has filed a lawsuit against the Michigan High School Athletic Association.



The senior at Royal Oak High School says he is Deaf, and that shouldn’t be a problem. It has become one during meets because the MHSAA is restricting his use of sign language interpreters.



“It is not fair,” said Ellis Kempf, of the rule.



Kemp says at meets sponsored by his school his sign language interpreter is allowed to move around the outside of the wrestling mat. At MHSAA sponsored meets that is not allowed. The MHSAA says the interpreter must be in Kempf’s coach’s designated corner. “That’s not going to work. I can’t see,” said Kempf.

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“They are saying Ellis can have an interpreter he can’t see. He can have an interpreter if the interpreter stands behind his back. That does Ellis no good,” said Attorney Jason Turkish.



So why does the MHSAA have this rule?



The MHSAA says it is for the safety of interpreters. At tournaments there are often several wrestling mats lined up next to each other. While it is rare for wrestlers to go outside the boundaries and collide with each other as an official can stop the action, the MHSAA says an interpreter circling the mat likely would not see competitors from another mat coming toward her or him.



"The MHSAA allows and always has allowed interpreters for the Deaf in wrestling,” said Geoff Kimmerly, an MHSAA spokesperson. "This student has been competing in high school wrestling with the aid of an interpreter for three seasons. There are some limitations on where interpreters can move during competition, especially at large tournaments with multiple mats in close proximity, so the interpreter does not get in the way of coaches, officials and competitors. This is a safety concern. These accommodations have been used for other Deaf wrestlers without problems in the past."



Ellis says the only person getting hurt is him. He points to the fact his record shows he is more likely to win wrestling tournaments that allow sign language interpreters.



“There have been times I lost first place because I didn’t know what was going on,” said Ellis. Source

Sign Language Interpreter Rules Criticized In Michigan

VIDEO: Reform for sign language interpreter rules criticized in Michigan.



LANSING, MI. - In April 2005, a Deaf Roseville woman confessed to police to killing her boyfriend without knowing she had a legal right to have a lawyer present and remain silent through an interpreter.



The Michigan Supreme Court later tossed out the confession, concluding Mary Ann McBride's unqualified interpreter failed to communicate through sign language McBride's Miranda rights.



McBride was later convicted in the stabbing death of Robert Adelsburg, but the case and other incidents of sign language miscommunication in legal and medical settings prompted a 2007 law requiring more stringent education and testing requirements for interpreters.

"Unfortunately, situations like that continue to happen," said Sheryl Emery, director of the state Division on Deaf and Hard of Hearing.



Six years later, the new rules are beginning to go into effect, but not everybody is happy with the reforms as Michigan imposes some of the toughest testing requirements for Deaf interpreters in the country intended to prevent interpreter mistakes. Some longtime professional interpreters and graduates of college-level sign language programs say the new state licensing test is difficult and too focused on English language concepts not used in everyday interpreting with Deaf people in community, educational, medical and legal settings.



Robina Anderson, an interpreter from Trenton and the daughter of two Deaf parents, has used sign language for 55 years, but has twice failed a new state exam that places a heavy emphasis on antonyms, synonyms and reading comprehension. Her state certification will become invalid this year under new licensing requirement set to go into effect in June. ...Read more: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130408/METRO/304080345/1409/Reform-sign-language-interpreter-rules-criticized - SOURCE