Hearing Test

Introductory Summary: The interpreter goes to an in-person interpreting assignment at Cochlea Hearing Center in Castro Valley, California.

Disclaimer:: This text is an original work of fiction based on real scenarios. Any similarities between people or places are purely coincidental.

Participants

Contributors

Author

Romina Espinosa

Co-Author

Ana Soler

Editors

Devin Gilbert

Yohana Imperio

Allison deFreese

Audio Engineer

Omar Mendoza

Voice Actors

Full Summary: The interpreter goes to an in-person interpretation assignment at Cochlea Hearing Center in Castro Valley, California. It is a new location for her. While waiting for the elevator, a man holding a newspaper walks into the building and waits for the elevator, too. Jacinta and the man exit the elevator on the same floor, the fifth floor. The man also heads over to the same medical office as the interpreter. When Jacinta introduces herself to the front desk assistant and mentions she is there to interpret for Mr. Lopez, the staff mentions Mr. Lopez is right behind her. The interpreter does her pre-session right away and waits, sitting next to the patient in the lobby. The interpreter faces an ethical dilemma while they wait for the doctor. The ENT specialist comes out to the lobby after five minutes and walks the interpreter and patient into his medical room.

Main Challenges: The patient is hard of hearing and the interpreter must raise her voice to be heard. A second challenge is that the interpreter faces an ethical dilemma before the patient-doctor encounter but maintains a professional demeanor at all times and continues interpreting despite these challenges.

Key Terminology and Vocabulary

English		español
---	hearing history	historial auditivo	---
---	hearing test	prueba auditiva	---
---	tone audiogram	audiometría tonal	---
---	receiver lane	cable receptor	---
BPPV	benign paroxysmal positional vertigo	VPPB	vértigo postural paroxístico benigno
---	vertigo	vértigo	---
---	dizziness	mareos	---
---	tinnitus	tinnitus	---
---	ear infection	infección al oído	---
---	surgery	cirugía	---
---	hearing loss	pérdida de audición	---
hearing aid	hearing device	aparato auditivo	---
---	severe	grave	---
---	audio sound test	prueba de sonido	---
---	voice reduction	reducción de voz	---
---	health insurance	aseguranza médica	seguro médico

Click or tap ???? to reveal terms in other language. Click again to hide.

Supplementary Resources: Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (Mayo Clinic); Tinnitus (Mayo Clinic); Types of Hearing Aids (US FDA); Anatomy of diagnosis in a clinical encounter: how clinicians discuss uncertainty with patients (Springer); Guide to Interpreter Positioning in Healthcare Settings (National Council on Interpreting in Healthcare); California Standards for Healthcare Interpreters (California Healthcare Interpreting Association); CIFE: An Interpreter’s Tool (Multnomah County); A National Code of Ethics for Interpreters in Healthcare (National Council on Interpreting in Healthcare); A National Code of Ethics for Interpreters in Healthcare (National Council on Interpreting in Healthcare); False Friends Dictionary: English-Spanish; Semantically Speaking: Does meaning structure unite languages? (Santa Fe Institute)

Dialogue