A Touchy Word, ‘Interpreter’: The Political and Personal Consequences of Supporting Diversity in the Workplace

By:
Lynne Barnes,
Nicola Jayne Nunn
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The British government introduced the Access to Work scheme (ATW) to provide support for disabled people within the workplace. One aspect of this support is the provision of sign language interpreters for profoundly deaf people. In this paper, two colleagues (one deaf, one hearing) from the Deaf Studies team at the University of Central Lancashire will draw on their experiences of working together in an environment directly created because of ATW legislation to highlight some of the unexpected consequences of promoting diversity in the workplace. Focussing on questions of empowerment and control, they will reflect on their differing perspectives of what ATW is meant to achieve and the issues and tensions that can arise as a consequence. Questions they will address include: who are interpreters working for? whose needs take priority?; do hearing colleagues have the right to pass judgement on ATW interpreters?; can promoting diversity actually promote division?


Keywords: Diversity, Deaf, Hearing, Interpreters
Stream: Disability, Health
Presentation Type: 30 minute Paper Presentation in English
Paper: A paper has not yet been submitted.

Lynne Barnes

Principal Lecturer, Deaf Studies
Department of Education and Social Science, University of Central Lancashire
Preston, Lancashire, UNITED KINGDOM

I am Programme Co-ordinator for the Deaf Studies team at the University of Central Lancashire. I worked as a teacher of deaf children and as support tutor for post-16 deaf students before setting up the BA Deaf Studies degree at Preston in 1993. I also act as an Adviser to the 65+ deaf and hard of hearing students across the university. My research work focuses on access for deaf students within Higher Education. I have written papers for numerous conferences, developed the only national Access Course for Deaf Students, and I am a consultant on many working groups and projects which support deaf students in H.E. I have recently completed an M.A. in Educational Research looking at the working practices of Language Support Tutors for Deaf Students within UClan.

Nicola Jayne Nunn

Lecturer in Deaf Studies, Deaf Studies, Education and Social Science Department
Preston, Lancashire, UNITED KINGDOM

Ref: D07P0414