Script interpreters translate for the deaf

Script interpreters translate for the deaf via computer

09/29/2013

Deaf students will be facilitated by lectures at the university by supporting a written interpreter. On a steno keyboard, the translator types the lectures into the computer, making language visible. This Sunday, September 29, is the day of the deaf.

Special shorthand keyboard
The font interpreter Sandra Kanschat regularly sits in North German universities and listens to scientific lectures in biology, art or mathematics. She taps the lectures simultaneously with the help of a special shorthand keyboard in the laptop. The short-cut inputs are converted into legible long text by software and displayed on the monitor in near real-time. As a result, even a deaf student in the lecture hall can follow the lecture directly, explains the Computerstenografin.

Deaf people are entitled to interpreters
According to the Deaf Alliance, around 80,000 deaf people live in Germany. 16 million German citizens are considered to be hard of hearing. Since recognition of the sign language in the Social Security Code 2001, deaf people have the right to assign interpreters for public concerns in education, study and work, at the doctor, employment office, in court or in public authorities. Health insurance funds, employers, offices or pension insurers assume the costs.

Only a few sign language interpreters
Nationwide, according to the Deaf Association about 500 sign language interpreters and thus would often have to wait weeks for a communication help. The trained businesswoman for office communication, Sandra Kanschat, did not find a sign language course in the whole of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. So she completed a two-year training as a letter interpreter.

400 syllables per minute
The computer shorthand is offered in Germany only for about ten years and was taken from the American. Meanwhile, perhaps a dozen German stenographers would work as simultaneous translators for the deaf. Among them is the 34-year-old Kanschat, who five years ago in Groß Trebbow near Schwerin their interpreting service „transcript“ founded. The mother of two makes with the Steno system up to 400 syllables per minute. She explains that it is three to four times that which can be typed with a normal keyboard.

Many sufferers do not speak sign language
The advantage of such a simultaneous transcript is obvious: unlike sign language, complicated facts or lectures could be literally transmitted and read immediately, as well as stored and printed for later reading, revising and learning. Kanschat also stated that many sufferers who lost their hearing only as adults as a result of an accident or illness often did not speak sign language at all.

Simple and understandable politicians
The young company Kanschats is no longer only active in higher education, but also on political and cultural events, company meetings of large companies, in court hearings, doctor visits and authorities. According to Kanschat, not only does the skill of the interpreter of texts help to capture what has been said for the deaf, but the speaker himself decides with his language whether he is also heard by deaf people. „Exemplary speakers are Joachim Gauck and Angela Merkel“, says Kanchat. „Both speak in perfect writing speed and correct sentence structure, they know how to express themselves easily and comprehensibly.“

Day of the deaf
The Day of the Deaf, 1951 by the World Association of the Deaf „World Federation of the Deaf“ (WFD) has been established in Germany since the mid-1970s, on the last Sunday in September. Regional associations draw attention to the special situation of deaf people with various campaigns and events and promote sign language. (Ad)