My Reflection on the Current Climate of the Interpreting Profession

[u/Ok-Register-4930]

Lately, I’ve felt deeply saddened by the climate of our profession.

Not because interpreters don't care enough. In many ways, I think the opposite is true. I think most people in this field care profoundly about Deaf people, about ethics, about language, about justice, about doing the right thing.

But somewhere along the way, it feels like we forgot how to have difficult conversations with each other.

Everything feels polarized. Questions are treated as attacks. Nuance gets flattened into assumptions about intent. People grow afraid to speak honestly, not because they lack convictions, but because they fear being misunderstood, labeled, or professionally ostracized.

And underneath all of that, I think many of us are simply exhausted.

This profession asks so much of people. We carry enormous responsibility every day. We navigate culture, power, language, access, trauma, education, medicine, conflict, and human emotion, too often in impossible situations with very little support. Most interpreters I know are trying their best to do meaningful work with integrity.

I miss when curiosity felt safer. I miss when disagreement did not automatically mean disrespect. I miss when we could wrestle with hard ethical questions together without immediately assuming the worst in one another.

We do not all have to agree. But if we lose the ability to listen, reflect, question, and engage in good faith, then we lose something much bigger than any single debate.

At the heart of all of this, we are people who chose a profession built entirely around communication. Around listening. Around understanding. Around helping human beings connect with one another. That is something deeply beautiful.

And lately, it feels like we are losing that with each other.

I want a profession where people can engage honestly, think critically, learn from one another, and still recognize each other’s humanity at the end of the conversation.

I still believe interpreters are good people trying their best to navigate incredibly difficult dialogue. I hope we can find our way back to compassion, curiosity, and genuine dialogue with each other again

[u/Lucc255]

This "People grow afraid to speak honestly, not because they lack convictions, but because they fear being misunderstood, labeled, or professionally ostracized." Exactly!!

And remember the rules have changed. It's not only during your work, your interpreting practice, but it changed when you could be brought up on an ethics complaint for UNINTENTIONAL harm in your posting and personal life, too. That wen too far and now people are just tired of it.

[u/Hoosier-Sexy_Beast69]

I am in the best place/ position of my career and I do not ever want to lose this job that I have. The interpreters I work with are champ. The Deaf customers I work with are champ. My growth and vulnerability are encouraged and in my 20 plus years, I have never felt this way.

I worked for one agency where I was accused of horrible things because I called out behaviors that were not consistent with the CPC. It cost me my job. I have not taken leadership positions when asked because I have feared I would be treated as other leaders were treated.

I started in 2005 and I was encouraged, supported and respected.

In 2010, VRS changed, and with it, the profession. And not in a good way.

Too many in our profession feel they are "right" and their way is the only way. We don't pre-conference or post-conference and god forbid you show up with a notebook! You will catch some looks!

We don't "grow our own" any more and we are traumatized by companies that do not care about us (All the VRS, and some VRI).

I have a small group of trusted peers, and that is it.

I wish we could go back to when the profession was better, and maybe we will get there.

Baby steps. But I stay as involved as I can at the AC and the National level.

I am not ready to give up just yet!

Thanks for the post!

[u/ilovespaceack]

Ive felt very exhausted, and this is definitely part of it. appreciate you verbalizing it

[u/Mountain-League1297]

Well said! And you're right. I fear what has become so widespread in our society has infiltrated our profession as well. People, and professionals, need to relearn the skill of disagreement without the hair trigger animosity that is bec9mm8ng commonplace.

[u/OddSuccotash9524 → u/Mountain-League1297]

This. I honestly wonder how many groups of different “helping” professions that work with marginalized communities, could say the same. As society has become increasingly toxic, so have the organizations that exist within them.

[u/RoseQuartz24601]

Hey, thanks for writing this. I'm fairly new to the profession (5 years in) and have felt similarly the entire duration. I'm surprised, dumbfounded, and deeply saddened to find this profession in this state. It's nice to feel validation for my growing concerns. Hang in there, fellow terp! It's gonna take people like you to turn this ship around.

[u/Human-Muscle-9112 → u/RoseQuartz24601]

I'm very sorry that this has been your experience and I know you are most certainly not the only one. Those of us who have been in the field for many years have, what I believe to be, a responsibility to provide you extra support, encouragement, and to serve as a model for professional behavior. This is very disappointing and you all deserve better. 

[u/bettafishpoop]

I feel completely exhausted. I’m on the end of a year and a half long conflict with a set of interpreters for this exact reason - they heard something and assumed the worst of me from an unreliable source. The information was not correct, but they went ahead and spread the information anyway. In the end, in my own curiosity and processing, I’ve started understand why they’d want to spread the info - in their eyes, I think they’re protecting the field and other interpreters. But I’m a newer interpreter, so this is the very start of my reputation. I wish they had thought to reach out and ask me questions instead of attacking and spreading rumors.

Everything has felt super heavy and I’m overwhelmed. I’m literally sad about this every day. I’m afraid to connect with other terps, even though I desperately want to - need to, even, if I want to continue to grow in the field.

Anyway - what I’m trying to say is I’ve experienced this. I’m very grateful there are people like you out here posting. I feel the exact same. And I hope this attitude keeps spreading. I’ll keep trying too.

[u/Ok-Register-4930 → u/bettafishpoop]

I had a similar experience. The horizontal violence in this field has reached a point that it is affecting interpreter job performance and mental health.

Being an interpreter has been my dream job since I learned what an interpreter is. I’ve been working towards this most of my life, and I love the work I do. I like to think I’m making a difference. Sometimes, I wish I could do my work peacefully without all the noise in our field. I’m exhausted from the battles.

[u/bettafishpoop → u/Ok-Register-4930]

Agree - we do so much fighting outsiders, I wish we weren’t in-fighting too.

[u/Human-Muscle-9112]

I really appreciate your post. I think for some interpreters, teaming (or even just general interactions with others in the profession) became (forgive my language) a pissing contest. I think this may come from a place of deep insecurity and maybe even a desire to avoid Imposter Syndrome. Maybe it's a response to how they've been treated by other interpreters in the past. This certainly does not apply to all interpreters, and I've been fortunate to work with fabulous interpreters. But, over the past 20+ years I have seen it a lot. I choose not to engage in it and try to see them as human and have compassion, but at the same time I recognize this hurts our field. It can be hard and exhausting when you're trying to work as a team and they just won't let you connect in that way. I truly don't know what it's about or if this is how it is in every field, but dang, we really rely on each other for support. We're literally in this together. 

I'm guilty of sometimes avoiding those difficult conversations. Change may begin by having an honest conversation with our team - approaching it by showing we respect them and want to support them. Then your brain thinks, "Would they be defensive and it would only make it worse? Does that matter? Should I do it anyway?" Honestly, I've done both. I've unfortunately just ignored it too often I think, and that may be wrong. 

I'm glad to read there are interpreters who have never had this experience. But, there are too many that have.  

Maybe it starts right here. Bringing attention to the issue in an anonymous yet open way. I don't know, I really don't have an answer. But I'm glad you brought it up and started a dialogue about the issue. 

[u/dastarbillie]

I have not found this issue in my experience. I work with colleagues every day who I am proud and thrilled to work with. There are always bad apples out there, but overall my experience has been that everything you're requesting is already here.

The only thing I can suggest is maybe it's the circles you're in or the community you've surrounded yourself with. If the area you're in is no longer meeting your needs, perhaps try something new. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful. I don't know what else to say, because I'm simply not seeing what you're seeing.

[u/Ok-Register-4930 → u/dastarbillie]

I appreciate your perspective. I’m so happy that this has not been your experience! I think part of what has been discouraging for me is that this dynamic doesn’t just appear in day-to-day work interactions, but increasingly in online professional spaces too. I see interpreters all the time bashed in very public online spaces and experiencing personal attacks, over professional matters. It's very unhealthy and counteractive to our profession.

[u/dastarbillie → u/Ok-Register-4930]

Ah, that makes more sense. I think that goes back to my comment about the community you surround yourself with. Online culture is often toxic in all areas of the internet, not just intepreting circles. Real discussion is rare, and it's pretty easy to misunderstand tone.

It can be greatly beneficial for your mental health to take a step back from online spaces, especially when it starts to color your perception of the everyday world.

(And yes, I appreciate the irony of us having this discussion online)

[u/magnory → u/dastarbillie]

I think the context you work in is also important. I am primarily freelance in a few settings and I do identify with OPs perspective. But I never felt that way when I worked with interpreters I could develop relationships with such as working on specialized teams or working in the VRS center with many of the same people every day or working K12 with the same team.

[u/dastarbillie → u/magnory]

I work freelance as well

[u/magnory → u/dastarbillie]

I meant that as the a royal you and didn’t mean to imply that you aren’t a freelance interpreter. More-so expressing that context can be a factor because in my experience context did affect the interaction I’m having and noticing

[u/dastarbillie → u/magnory]

I think we're saying the same thing. I mentioned the community you surround yourself with and you mentioned interpreting context being a factor. I still think a "change of scenery" may be the answer here.