What About Getting Health Insurance For Freelance ASL Interpreters?

Too many freelance ASL interpreters lack the health insurance coverage!

Why not the American deaf community get together to create the national affordable health insurance coverage program for freelance ASL interpreters?

So more and more freelance ASL interpreters could be available for the community-based tasks than running out to the Video Relay Service (VRS) companies.

Freelance ASL and other sign language interpreters are human beings, too. Freelance ASL interpreters often sacrifice themselves at their own expenses like driving pretty far for any freelance assignments.

Surprisingly, many sign language interpreters with the sign language agency or government or corporation, still pay hefty monthly premium fee for limited health insurance coverage like $500 per month.

We also need special tax breaks for our freelance sign language interpreters and other interpreters of the deaf. The translators for government business often get special tax breaks, not any sign language interpreters.

See that we really have the shortage of component sign language interpreters in increasingly corporatized American society.

Sign language interpreters especially ASL interpreters often are our allies in the first line of defense in many deaf events like the Gallaudet protests. One freelance interpreter volunteered to sign interpret contintually without any break or pay more than 17 hours on very same day during the Gallaudet protest.

ASLize yours,
Robert L. Mason (RLM)

Gifts for ASL/Cued Speech Interpreter???

When I read Jamie Berke's submittance on her "About. Com: Deafness" blog on the issue of gifts for sign language interpreters derived from the About.Com: Health's Disease and Condition content reviewed by the Medical Review Board (How interesting!!)

Well, I do not have any problems with the idea of giving gifts to sign language interpreters if anyone deaf have the SAME interpreter over and over at the workplace or enterprise or lecture. That is up to deaf clients shower the sign language interpreter to show hir own appreciation for underappreciated and hardworking interpreter Why not!

The problems with Jamie Berke's blog submittance without being more specific and give list of recommendation and any examples.

Not all sign language interpreter being well-paid for interpreting assignments until they are formally employed with the sign language agency. Handful of freelance sign language interpreters DO NOT HAVE any health insurance or regular paychecks.

Let's suppose that any deaf client/corporation make very last-minute request for freelance sign language interpreter for an emergency conference. That interpreter give up hir own plan like accompanying hir own child's birthday party. The deaf client/corporation would be perfectly generous to the assigned sign language interpreter to show their appreciation for anyone, who sacrifice hir own personal life. Either give out the free corporation gift for the interpreter's child as a birthday present.

I am sure that there are many thoughtful and considerate deaf clients of sign language interpreters with our deaf community.

ASLize yours,
Robert L. Mason (RLM)

Let's Deny CI Users "Disabled" Status!

Many cochlear implant (CI) users and idealized parents of deaf youngsters with CI use often remind us that they greatly benefit from the use of CI, etc. Good for them!

That is the time for us, deaf community to demand that any deaf individuals with CI to be classifed as non-disabled and will not able to receive any benefits or special tax breaks, etc. Why should the CI users be seen as disabled?

We need the federal legisation to classify the CI users as non-disabled individuals as what the proponents of CI repeatedly tell the parents of deaf youngsters to be fitted with the CI device for leading the normal life.

CI users should not benefit from the disabled status in any way. Should they?

Any deaf children with CI devices should not receive any disability benefits like the monthly SSI checks to fatten the parents of deaf youngsters' bottom line (very common). Nor they could get any kind of benefits from disabled reduced fares for buses and subways, etc.

We need to mobilize the state and federal government and private health insurance providers to classify hearing loss as non-health issue. So those government don't have to pay for the CI surgery which really have nothing to do with the matter of life and death.

Don't let the CI users to walk over us, deaf people and still receive special benefits as disabled individuals.

Correction of hearing loss should lead to the classification of non-disabled status. So the proponents of CI use could not have both ways of exploiting deaf people to fatten their paychecks and ideals for the perfect society.

ASLize yours,
Robert L. Mason (RLM)
RLMDEAF blog