Lack of Sign Language Interpreters in North Dakota a Major Barrier

(Photo by Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)

(North Dakota Monitor) – The video sign language service the Bismarck hospital was using was not working properly, and Tammy Derrick wanted to know what was happening with her son.

She eventually requested an on-site sign language interpreter, knowing it was one of her protected rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“I was very demanding, because it was my son’s life on the line and I wanted to know what was going on,” Derrick recalled in an interview through an ASL interpreter.

The hospital provided an interpreter, and her son ended up being OK. But Derrick worries other deaf people in similar circumstances could have different results, especially in a state like North Dakota that lacks interpreters.