Our mission is to promote educational opportunities, protect and define existing rights of the current and potential deaf and deaf-blind citizens of America, and to solidify their social and economic security.
Interpreter for Deaf Clients: the Supreme Court of Ohio Policy Committee
Our OAD president is on the Interpreter Policy Committee of the Ohio Supreme Court to ensure that all courts on the local and state levels follow a new court interpreter law which will take effect in January 2013. If you are having an issue with a court interpreter, please contact OAD President, for further instructions at president@oad-deaf.org.
Remember: it is very important to cooperate when you make a request for an American Sign Language (ASL) Interpreter. Keep in your mind: Ohio has a limit number of legally certificated ASL interpreters or those who received a certificate for completing 80 hours of legal training that the Ohio Supreme Court recognizes. It will become a law in January 2013. If your agency such as the Community Center for the Deaf or an Interpreter agency provides you with an interpreter, you have a right to ask them to show you the certificate card from either the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) or the Supreme Court of Ohio that they SHOULD carry with them at all times. If they refuse to show you the card or if you do not understand the interpreter , please inform the judge and/or lawyer immediately that you do not understand the interpreter. Make a request to reschedule another hearing, and report to our OAD President with information. OAD is working closely with the Supreme Court of Ohio.
Here are the websites for you to read and understand your rights as a deaf consumer:
