| In the United States sign language interpreting is one of the primary support services for deaf people, but there is little knowledge about attitudes towards interpreters and interpreting. The issue of deaf people's dissatisfaction with interpreters has been addressed by the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) and the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf. To understand deaf leaders' attitudes, this study collected data from a group of deaf persons who were officers of NAD and/or the State Associations of the Deaf from 1960 to 1999.;The sample included 394 deaf leaders. They completed a demographic questionnaire, items related to their experiences with interpreters, and an attitude towards interpreters scale. The mean age of the study sample was 53.4 years. Approximately 55% were male. Nearly two-thirds of the leaders held a college degree or better. Almost 55% confirmed having negative experiences with interpreters. Nearly 84% were satisfied with interpreters they had used within the past two years.;The results indicated that the leaders' attitudes were significantly related to age, frequency of use of interpreters, negative experiences, and satisfaction with interpreters. Age accounted for 4.2% of the variance in attitude scores, and frequency of use of interpreters accounted for 2.2%. These variables accounted for 6.4% of the variance. Negative experiences added 6.5%, and satisfaction accounted for nearly 9%. Because the last two variables accounted for approximately 15%, their combined influence on attitudes was greater than age and frequency of use of interpreters. Education also was related to the leaders' attitudes. Post-hoc analyses revealed that those leaders with a Master's degree and those who did not attend college were statistically different.;Recommendations for future research about interpreters and interpreting encompass the need for study related to attitudes of the general deaf population, need for improvement in the attitude measure, and further study about general and situation-specific attitudes including the issues of trust and confidentiality. |
