Singing and Interpreting for the Deaf

SIGNING AND INTERPRETING FOR THE DEAF 

PURPOSE: This event encourages students to develop the skill of signing so that they can communicate and develop relationships with the hearing impaired, thus giving them the opportunity to minister to the needs of the hearing impaired.

PROCESS:

Each participating group will:

  1. Properly register each participant.
  2. Provide (if possible) an interpreter to accompany any hearing impaired participants.
  3. Provide judges as possible, to be used as needed.

The Event Coordinator will:

  1. Announce, or post a schedule for performances in the event room.
  2. Oversee judges and room coordination.
  3. Be sure that recorded songs and scriptures have been provided by mail or via LTC web site.
  4. Provide judging results and award recommendations to the Convention Events Coordinator.
  5. Select possible signers to be used at the Saturday Night Celebration or Sunday morning bible classes

RULES:

  1. Spectators may not enter or leave the room while participants are signing. Participants who have already been judged and are spectators will be disqualified if they sign during the judging of another participant.
  2. Applause is appropriate as a display of appreciation.
  3. Bibles and song books will not be provided for the participants.
  4. Participants will be disqualified if spectators give signs during judging.
  5. Participants may choose one of the following types of entry:
    1. Sign one of the selected songs or the scripture passage.
  6. A participant may use SEE signs or ASL or any level of signing between as long as the signs are clear and the message of the song or scripture is accurately conveyed.
  7. If a participant is in need of special assistance or consideration, inform the event director so that an accommodation can be arranged.

SIGNING OF A SCRIPTURE PASSAGE:

  1. A recorded version of the scripture selected for this year will be played, and the participant will sign the scripture.

SIGNING OF A SONG:

  1. A recorded version of the song will be played, and the student will sign the song. Participants will be asked to choose ONE of the songs below:
    1.  

SKILL CHALLENGE:

  1. This option is for the student that feels confident in signs and wants to widen their breadth of knowledge and skill. In this choice of event, the student will learn all three songs. At convention one song will be chosen at random. They will then participate using that song.

JUDGING:

  1. There will be two or three Judges qualified in interpreting for the deaf. An award rating will be assigned based on the recommendations of the Judges.

AWARDS:

  1. Participants will be judged as individuals and age will be factored into their rating. One of the following award ratings will be assigned based upon the point average between the Judges’ sheets; Gold = 5       Silver = 3       Bronze = 1
  2. 2.    An appropriately colored engraved plate for the individual’s Award Plaque will be given to each person receiving a Gold, Silver, or Bronze Rating.   

IMPORTANT

Video Instruction

  1. If you are with a congregation with children who wish to participate in this event but there is no one qualified to teach them the signs to the songs or scripture, a DVD is available to assist. The DVD will contain instruction on general signing and the alphabet. It will also include instruction on how to do the introduction and each song as well as the scripture.
  2. The DVD is structured so that a participant could learn the songs or scripture all on their own. That, however, is the hardest way to do this. The DVD is best used with the aid of an adult or friend that can critique and guide. Using the DVD, this person does not have to be skilled in signs themselves. They just need to be willing to encourage, watch and compare with what is on the DVD.
  3. It could also be used by a leader who knows signs but is rusty and just needs some help getting started. One could fill in the missing signs from their own vocabulary and then feel confident to teach the children themselves.
  4. The audio recordings will be made available in MP3 format on the LTC web site. These recordings will be exactly the same as what will be used at the convention. Each congregation is encouraged to download the songs and write them to a CD or load them on an MP3 player. This way the students will be able to practice with exactly what they will be hearing at the convention.
  5.  The LTC web site is located at: http://www.ltcnw.org
  6. Please, if you have any questions at all, feel free to call or email the Event Director