Toxic Ableism Among Interpreters: Impeding Deaf People's Linguistic Rights Through Pathological Posturing

Traducción e Interpretación

Hoffmeister and Harvey (1996) describe pathological posturing as a way in which non-deaf 1 people reinforce their supremacy over deaf people. Through a critical disability lens using standpoint theory, we theorize about pathological posturing strategies deployed by non-deaf signed language interpreters 2 to reinforce ableism, audism, and paternalism toward deaf people. Pathological posturing is rooted in the idea that deaf people have limited agency without the aid of non-deaf allies. Emotional weaponization occurs when labor is performed on the part of the non-deaf to assist deaf people is not met with gratitude and unquestioning acceptance. Non-deaf people deploy pathological posturing to perpetuate systemic marginalization and compel deaf people to abandon control of linguistic rights discourses. The resulting tension, abled resistance, occurs when signed language interpreters prioritize their abilities, professional expertise, and feelings over deaf consumers.

En: Conference Proceedings of World Association of Sign Language Interpreters, pp. 14-41