When Interpreters Are Treated as the Authority on BSL
Sometimes the person with the most direct knowledge becomes the least consulted.
I've noticed how often conversations about BSL are redirected towards interpreters, even when a Deaf signer is sitting in the room.
A Deaf person is signing.
The interpreter is voicing.
And suddenly the questions shift.
"How does BSL work?"
"Is that the correct sign?"
"Can you teach me some signs?"
The interpreter is asked to explain the language.
The Deaf person is overlooked.
This often appears as curiosity.
But underneath it sits a familiar pattern.
Authority moves towards the hearing voice in the room.
The Deaf person becomes less visible.
And the interpreter becomes positioned as the expert on a language and culture that does not belong to them.
The issue is not that interpreters know about BSL.
Many are highly skilled language professionals.
The issue is what happens when hearing people instinctively assign expertise to the person speaking rather than the person living the language.
This reflects a wider pattern.
Hearing people are often treated as authorities on Deaf experiences.
Hearing professionals are positioned as experts on Deaf lives.
And interpreters are sometimes viewed as representatives of Deaf culture rather than facilitators of communication.
The result is that Deaf expertise becomes filtered through hearing voices before it is recognised.
BSL is more than vocabulary.
It is language.
Culture.
Identity.
Community.
If people are curious about BSL, Deaf people should not be the last people asked.
The people who live the language should not become invisible within conversations about it.
Curiosity is welcome.
But authority should not automatically follow the hearing voice in the room.
