EP214: Christina Stevens: The Journey from Theater to Sign Language

DEIAB and Educational Interpreting with Christina Stevens

Christine interviews Christina Stevens, a nationally certified sign language interpreter working mainly in Connecticut public schools for nine years, with degrees in American Sign Language and Theater and leadership roles in state and national interpreter organizations. She shares how she discovered interpreting in college through theater performances, later attending Columbia College Chicago, and ultimately becoming an educational interpreter despite initially thinking she would not. Stevens discusses boundaries and the central role interpreters play for students, noting that about 90% of deaf children are born to hearing parents and about 50% of those parents learn sign language, affecting home communication. Stevens advocates expanding DEI to “DEIAB” (Accessibility and Belonging), emphasizing early budgeting, bringing Deaf people to planning tables, and recognizing different interpreting approaches. She encourages learning ASL from Deaf or native users through community involvement.

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro

01:01 How Christina Found ASL

01:56 Training and Career Path

02:57 Why School Interpreting Is Hard

03:58 Classroom Visit and Book Talk

04:49 Day to Day Interpreter Role

06:42 DEIAB Accessibility and Belonging

09:00 Deaf Awareness and Learning ASL

10:35 Final Thoughts and Thanks

Transcript

Christine Ko: [00:00:00] Welcome back to The Girl Doc Survival Guide. Today I am very pleased to be with Ms. Christina Stevens. Ms. Christina Stevens is a nationally certified sign language interpreter who primarily works in educational settings. She has been working in a Connecticut public school for about nine years. She received her bachelor's degree in American Sign Language at Columbia College Chicago, as well as a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater at DePaul University. Christina previously served as President of the Connecticut Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf and was a member of the Governor's Advisory Board for persons who are Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Deaf Blind. She's currently serving on the national level as Region 1 representative for the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf Board of Directors. Welcome to Christina. 

Christina Stevens: Hi. Thank you for having me. 

Christine Ko: Thank you for taking the time. I'm so pleased to be able to talk to you. 

Christina Stevens: Yeah, we had such a short time when you came to visit my classroom. It was an exciting day. The kids were excited to meet you, so, we didn't [00:01:00] get much time to chat. 

Christine Ko: Can you share a personal anecdote?

Christina Stevens: I didn't know about sign language. Didn't know about deafness when I was in high school. It wasn't until college, I was lucky enough that DePaul University provides interpreters for one of their performances for each production. This is where I started to see interpreters. I went up to one of the interpreters one day after the performance and was like, I wanna be like you when I grow up. How do I do this? And the interpreter looked at me and went, no, run the other way. You don't want to. And I was like, really, why? Backstory to that was the interpreter had just lost their father, and this was a very complicated Shakespeare performance that they were doing. So the interpreter was just emotionally and physically not able to communicate with me that day. That interpreter is now my mentor and is still my mentor today. So she had suggested going to Columbia College, [00:02:00] and I was able to and got right in, and that's where I fell in love with interpreting and the Deaf community, and I learned so much. All of their sign language classes are taught by Deaf individuals and then all of your interpreting classes are taught by certified professional interpreters who are still working in the field. And then your senior year, you're out on the field and you're out working. And funny enough, I said during my educational placement, No, I'm never gonna do educational interpreting. This isn't for me. Yeah. Guess who became an educational interpreter? I did. 

Christine Ko: Yeah. It's funny how life doesn't necessarily turn out how we think that it might turn out. Even in terms of our jobs, which you'd think that we do have control over that in a way, right? We think we do, but... 

Christina Stevens: Yeah. 

Christine Ko: A lot of people are like, I don't know how I ended up here.

When initially you had your educational placement [00:03:00] and you thought, I'm not gonna do this. Were there reasons why you thought that? 

Christina Stevens: Yeah. One, it just wasn't a good placement for me. But also I saw, I knew, and this has of course happened, that you become too close to the kids sometimes. You are the primary communication tool for some of these kids, and you know too much about them and their families. You do with all elementary kids. Elementary kids will tell you everything that happened last night. There are some boundaries that get bent. Statistically, a lot of deaf children are born to hearing parents. About 90% of deaf children are born to hearing parents. About 50% of those parents learn sign language. And so for a lot of these deaf kids, they go home to a place that they can't communicate, or communication takes a lot more from them. 

Christine Ko: Christina actually [00:04:00] invited me to her classroom of third graders. I read Sound Switch Wonder, a picture book there that Owen and I had done together. That's how we met, just recently.

Christina Stevens: Lemme tell you what I like about your book. One, it included cochlear implants. There are not a lot of books that talk about cochlear implants. And what I liked about it too is that it showed the versatility. It showed that, yeah, I can hear sounds. Sometimes, I don't wanna hear 'em. Sometimes I know what those sounds are. Sometimes I don't. Because that's a real world situation. There's not enough books out there that show the broad spectrum of deafness and show the broad spectrum of what they can and can't hear. We need those stories.

Christine Ko: Yeah. Thank you, Christina. The environment that I saw you in, you are the American Sign Language interpreter for two kids. Both in the third grade, I believe. What I saw is that yes, very [00:05:00] much as you described just now, you would translate everything for them oftentimes right in the moment of what's being said with spoken language. And I could tell, you are invaluable to them. Both kids were just staring at you the whole time. Obviously, you're signing to them and so they need to be watching you. But it was, it was really apparent to me that yes, you are a hugely valuable person to them.

Christina Stevens: Thank you. Yeah, thank you. I also work to make sure that the entire class feels comfortable with me. When my deaf students are doing independent work, I can help with some of the other kids. Most of these kids have had me since kindergarten, so they're all pretty comfortable with me. And I have girls coming up to me being like, Can you help me fix my hair? And helping them do that. And boys telling me about their pets. All that. 

Christine Ko: It sounds like [00:06:00] you've been with the same kids then from when they were in kindergarten.

Christina Stevens: Yeah, so I am an employee of the district, so I can be placed anywhere that they are needing me. At this time, I have been with these kids for a couple years, but there are a couple other interpreters, so there could be a year where we switch it up. Personally, I would rather not be with the kids K through 12. 'Cause after these kids leave high school, I'm not gonna follow them. So they have to figure out life without an interpreter there every day. And interpreters. We all have a different style too. So being able to work with other interpreters before they get out in the freelance world. That's just how interpreting works.

Christine Ko: With your experience as an interpreter for Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Deaf Blind, has that influenced your thoughts on diversity and equity?

Christina Stevens: Oh, big time. Yeah. A great mentor, a couple years ago, we were talking a lot about that and we added two [00:07:00] letters to the end of that. You have the DEI, but then I wanna add A and B, so it's DEIAB, A, being Accessibility, and B, being Belonging, that feeling and sense of belonging. Accessibility or even just access, making sure that accessibility is available to anyone who shows up to your venue. If you are someone who's, Ooh, I wanna start bringing in a sign language interpreter, you need to put it in your line budget now so that for next fiscal year you are financially able to do that. And, start bringing deaf people to the table. Bring in a deaf person to talk about lighting, to talk about what visual things are needed. And bringing those people to the table then creates that sense of belonging. And then you're able to then expand on that diversity and that equity. So plan early and bring the people to the table. Accessibility's just not a box that we can [00:08:00] tick. There's so much to accessibility because there are so many varieties of interpreters. Are interpreters that do what we call cued speech. And there's American Sign language, there's Signed English. So again, there's not just a box that we can be like, oh, we got an interpreter, check. What all does that interpreter need to do? What all do they need to prepare for?

Christine Ko: Yeah. When you add the A and the B to DEI. So diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and belonging. 

Christina Stevens: Yeah. 

Christine Ko: Is there a way to still feel a sense of belonging even without the perfect accessibility? 

Christina Stevens: Yeah. I don't know if that's something that I can answer. We'll have to bring them to the table and ask them. 

Christine Ko: Ideally you allow anyone to feel included and feel like they belong, and they have accessibility to whatever's in front of them. You need to ask each individual person, what do you need to really feel like you belong? What's necessary for you? [00:09:00] Alright. As a gift, I really thank you for the gift, you guys gave me this nice T-shirt that has Deaf Awareness on it, beautiful colors, and some sign language alphabet, DEAF on it. Deaf awareness. What do you wish everyone would know? 

Christina Stevens: Oh, there's so much to know. I think probably the first thing is, 'cause everyone's, Oh, will you teach me sign language? No. If you wanna learn sign language, find a Deaf person. I can help support you, and I can help find those places. But the native speakers of sign language, go find them and learn sign language. And, it is very simple nowadays to find someone online. Just make sure you check their credentials.

Christine Ko: You should only learn ASL from someone who's Deaf? 

Christina Stevens: Or a native user. There's so many Deaf people who are able to teach it and they're a great resource to bring you into the community. 'Cause sign language is a language, but it's also a community and a culture. And so you gotta be with the community. And that's where I [00:10:00] learned most of my sign language when I was a student. You're always required to do Deaf events, be out in the community. One semester I did 200 hours of community events. Being out in the community is where you learn the most. So get out, be out with the community. Don't be afraid. You will sign something wrong. I did many times, and it's hilarious. You make the mistake, and you never make it again.

Christine Ko: Oh, that's cool. Is that the main thing you want people to be aware of? if you wanna learn ASL, go to someone who is a native speaker. 

Christina Stevens: Yeah. Yeah. 

Christine Ko: Okay. Do you have any final thoughts?

Christina Stevens: Oh, I don't think so. This was fun.

Christine Ko: You're amazing. Thank you so much for your time. 

Christina Stevens: You're welcome.