American Sign Language spoken here at TEDxSalem

TEDxSalem will offer ASL inter­pret­ing for the third year in a row so every­one can join the con­ver­sa­tion.

Salem is one of the few TED events around the world that offers the ser­vice thanks to our vol­un­teers. With­out them, it would cost thou­sands of dol­lars.

This year Salem teamed up with 10 ASL inter­pret­ing stu­dents from West­ern Ore­gon Uni­ver­si­ty, their men­tors and mem­bers of the deaf com­mu­ni­ty to make it hap­pen.

“It’s real­ly a won­der­ful oppor­tu­ni­ty for our stu­dents,” said Vic­ki Dar­d­en, vis­it­ing assis­tant pro­fes­sor of inter­pret­ing stud­ies at WOU.

TEDx is a great way for the stu­dents, all seniors, to get real-world ASL inter­pret­ing expe­ri­ence, she said. But the part­ner­ship is a win for every­one. The event gets inter­pre­ta­tion, and the deaf com­mu­ni­ty gains access to the TED expe­ri­ence not only in Salem, but around the world online.

Each stu­dent will inter­pret one TED talk with sup­port from their men­tor, and the remain­ing talks will be cov­ered by men­tors. Stu­dents will also have a chance to refine their inter­pre­ta­tions for the videos, which will fea­ture the ASL inter­preter on the screen.

Dar­d­en hopes to con­tin­ue the part­ner­ship between WOU and TEDxSalem next year, she said.

“I look for­ward to a real col­lab­o­ra­tion between TEDx and our stu­dents,” she said, “to pro­vide access to the deaf com­mu­ni­ty as well as expe­ri­ence for our stu­dents and expo­sure for TED.”

TEDxSalem stu­dent inter­preters