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Communication Resources for Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Index to Resources

Washington State Resources
  • Interpreters
  • Interpreter Referral Agencies
  • Captioners
  • ASL Classes
  • State Relay Service
  • Real Estate Agents/Interps
    		• Other States' Resources
  • Interpreters
  • Interpreter Referral Agencies
  • Captioners
  • ASL Classes
  • Relay Services
  • Real Estate Agents/Interps
    		• Other Resources
  • Resources for Interpreters
  • Interpreter Organizations
  • Resources for Captioners
  • Video Relay Services

    • Alphabetical Listing of Washington State Interpreters

    Note: Interpreters are listed here only by request of the individual interpreter. Register your name, address (including Email address), home and work phones by mailing a note to:

    Certifications and preferred interpreting area are shown in parentheses following the interpreters' names.

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    Alphabetical Listing of Interpreters Outside of Washington State

    Note: Interpreters are listed here only by request of the individual interpreter. Register your name, address (including Email address), home and work phones by mailing a note to:

    Certifications and preferred interpreting area are shown in parentheses following the interpreters' names.

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    P.O. Box 21274
    Baltimore, MD 21228
    Phone: 410-271-8320 (voice)
    Email: Terpitude04@yahoo.com
    Website: (Coming Soon)
    Pat has been RID certified since 2002. She has been a freelance interpreter for ten years, and is a certified Teacher of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students, with seven years of experience. She currently provides interpreting services in the Metropolitan Baltimore/Washington DC area. She loves interpreting in the areas of holistic wellness, family wellness, primary through post secondary education, spiritual life coaching, conferences, training classes, banquets/ceremonies, etc. Please feel free to contact her for rates and availability. -->

    Washington Interpreter/Captioner Referral Agencies

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    Other Interpreter/Captioner Referral Agencies

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    WWW Sites for Interpreters

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    Organizations for Interpreters

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    Washington State Resources for Learning American Sign Language/Interpreting

    Being deaf or hard of hearing can be very isolating for the deaf or hard of hearing person, particularly those who are surrounded by hearing people, none of which know or want to know any sign language.

    Imagine yourself, or someone very close to you, suddenly deaf and think about how hard it would be to communicate with others. Imagine that deaf person is your young daughter or son. Sign language re-opens the door to communication. It's not difficult.

    American Sign Language is the language of the Deaf in the USA. Like any language, it takes some time to learn, but is lots of fun. If you plan to learn sign language, take classes with a friend. That way, you'll have a partner with whom you can practice on a regular basis.

    And, as with any skill, you need to continually use sign language to retain it and become proficient at it. Check the Bulletin Board of Events for dates and times at which sign language will be spoken. Attend those functions on occasion and introduce yourself to others. You'll find them to be very accepting and patient.

    If you have a family member who is deaf or hard of hearing, do yourself and that family member a favor by learning sign language. This is especially important if that family member is a child. Communication is so important and sign language is a great way to communicate.

    If you're interested in interpreting, check out the schools listed below that train interpreters. The Deaf community can always use more interpreters.

    Note: If you teach sign language and would like to be listed here, please register your name, address (including Email address), home/work phones, and pertinent class information by mailing a note to:

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    Washington State

    Other Resources for Learning American Sign Language/Interpreting

    Alphabetical Listing of Washington State Captioners

    Captioners are a relatively recent application of a technology that's been around for a number of years - courtroom reporting using a machine to transcribe what is said. Now, those same courtroom reporters can, if qualified, caption in real-time to a laptop computer, rather than to a paper tape. In short, the deaf or hard of hearing user reads everything that is said from the captioner's laptop PC, or overhead projector.

    It's unfortunate, but many people who are deaf or hard of hearing (perhaps they lost their hearing later in life) don't know sign language, and so are unable to use sign language interpreters to help them understand what's being said in meetings, appointments, classes and various other situations.

    For those people, captioners provide a very convenient way of seeing exactly what is said in those situations. Captioners can provide a variety of services: real-time captioning in classes and meetings, captioning of home and commercial video tapes, courtroom reporting, TV captioning, and so on.

    It's important to note though, that not all captioners are qualified to do real-time captioning (such as meetings). If you should decide to employ a captioner you've never used before, call and check on that captioner's qualifications, and ask for and talk to their references. Real-time captioning is very difficult to do with the accuracy needed to minimize garbled words, so you want to be sure the person you hire is well qualified to do the job.

    For more information on captioning, visit the Caption Web.
    Abbreviations:
    - CBC = Certified Broadcast Captioner
    - CCP = Certified Cart Provider

    Note: If you'd like your name or organization listed here, register your name, address (including Email address), home and work phones by mailing a note to:

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    Alphabetical Listing of Captioners Outside of Washington State

    Note: If you'd like your name or organization listed here, register your name, address (including Email address), home and work phones by mailing a note to:

    Abbreviations:
    NCRA - National Court Reporters Association
    FAPR - Fellow Academy of Professional Reporters
    RDR - Registered Diplomate Reporter
    RMR - Registered Merit Reporter
    CRR - Certified Realtime Reporter
    CBC - Certified Broadcast Captioner
    CCP - Certified CART Provider

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    WWW Resources for Captioners

    TV image showing captioning on the screen

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    Washington State Relay Service

    Deaf people have long used TTYs to communicate over the phone with each other. In the 1970's, relay services came into use, first at Deaf service centers and later adopted by states to comply with ADA laws mandating accessibility.

    Relay services assist deaf, hard of hearing, speech disabled, as well as their families and friends to communicate via telephone. The relay operator acts as a go-between, either voicing or typing text to the person being called. For instance, if a deaf person wishes to call a hearing person, he/she will use a TTY to call the relay operator (also known as a Communication Assistant [CA]), who in turn will call the hearing person and voice to that person whatever the deaf person types to the CA via the TTY. The process is reversed if a hearing person wishes to call a deaf person.

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    Other Relay Services

    For quick relay number access, here's a phone listing for most states' relay service numbers.

    Note: If you see your state's relay service isn't listed here, get it listed here by mailing a note to:

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    Video Relay Services

    Video relay services allow a deaf person to communicate using sign language, rather than a TTY, with a video camera attached to the deaf person's computer. The relay operator sees on his/her computer everything the deaf person signs and then voices that in a relay to the hearing person. For more information, see the links below. While you don't necessarily need a video camera to participate in a video call, you will need one attached to your PC if you intend to talk to the other person in ASL.

    There are a quite a number of video cameras that work with your computer, including:
  • Logitech Quickcam Pro 3000 or 4000
  • Intel Pro PC Camera CS430/CS431
  • Creative Ex Pro

    Note: If you see your video relay service isn't listed here, get it listed here by mailing a note to:

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    Washington State Real Estate Agents That Know Sign Language

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    Other Real Estate-related People That Know Sign Language

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