Hiring deaf IS interpreters models international competency to the deaf community, provides jobs, demonstrates human rights, and connects the deaf community across the world. As you hire more deaf people, the community has to build their skills to match the demand in this market. They then feed deaf from developing countries with role models on how to access communication that connects them to the rest of the world. They gain access to funding that lifts them out of the poverty cycle, builds global competence, and supports development efforts.

Deaf people have long been left out of international exchange and conversations because of the high costs of interpreting. Hiring deaf interpreters for your events is one of the lowest cost ways to begin to change that dynamic.

Ironically, most deaf people are already highly skilled in managing two cultures through interpreters, deaf and hearing. With more access and exposure to international opportunities, they may lend us all greater insight on language access and boundaries. Hiring deaf interpreters for your events is one of the lowest cost ways to begin to change that dynamic.

As you work to justify the budget for sign language interpreters, perhaps you might suggest this budgetary line item as an investment in international development as a whole and to the deaf community specifically, rather than only an investment in access generally.

Here is a map of the linguistic roots of sign languages across the world: Tegnsprogenes Stamtræ (Text is in Danish with flags.)

Brief History of Signed Languages and Their Spread.

From the World Association of Sign Language Interpreters (WASLI)

The European Union of the Deaf provides a more in-depth explanation of International Sign (IS).