Their’s were the hands that communicated news about the coronavirus throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to the 1.5 million Pennsylvanians who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Through their dance of hand gestures and facial expressions, the American Sign Language interpreters shared updates about the symptoms, precautions and spread of the virus at the more than 150 news conferences held by Gov. Tom Wolf and members of his Cabinet over a period of many months .
For that, Pennsylvania won recognition from the National Association of the Deaf. In a study by the association to assess the clarity and visibility of the interpreters for deaf and hard of hearing people to be able to access information from the COVID-19 briefings, the commonwealth ranked 10th out of the 50 states.
At a Friday news conference at the Capitol, the five sign language interpreters who worked those briefings in 2020 – Cren Quigley, Cindi Brown, Jessica Bentley-Sassaman, Ashley Shenk and Kendra Bartlet – were recognized.
“I just want to thank everyone for allowing us to provide opportunities not only for this state, but throughout the United States of America to show the deaf community that deaf interpreters are possible and that we use deaf interpreters to provide information for all,” said Quigley using ASL with another interpreter translating his speech into spoken word.
Pennsylvania’s government policies have made it easier for agencies to request ASL interpreters since May 2019, according to Joe Lee, the acting secretary of the Department of General Services. That likely helped the state incorporate ASL interpreters so consistently in its COVID-19 briefings, he said at the news conference.
“Because of the ASL interpreters who served alongside commonwealth leaders in 2020, there was no time lost in delivering COVID-19 information to the deaf and hard-of-hearing community in Pennsylvania,” said Melissa Hawkins, director of the Office for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in the Department of Labor and Industry.
Hawkins, who is deaf, said a lifetime of advocating for her own needs in a largely hearing world helps her in her current role, where she advocates for the needs of deaf, hard of hearing or deaf-blind Pennsylvanians.
“As someone who is consistently saying ‘yes,’ and hoping it was a question, I can assure you it is a challenging world and it is designed for those who can hear,” Hawkins said.
Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency Director Randy Padfield said the interpreters ensured “everyone has access to the same life-saving information so they can make the right decisions to protect themselves and their loved ones. The pandemic was a scary time for so many people, so providing timely and accurate information was essential to keeping Pennsylvanians safe.”
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