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Doug Dunn has been providing professional sign-language interpreting services, for Deaf people who use American Sign Language (ASL), professionally since October 1972 and informally since childhood. His current service area primarily centers in and around San Diego County, California, though services may occasionally be arranged for special events in other areas, subject to appropriate travel arrangements.
Born and raised in Southern California, Doug began learning sign language (ASL) as a child, from Deaf friends. His first wife was a Deaf person who used ASL.
Doug began interpreting on a voluntary basis for friends and organizations during the 1960s and 1970s. His first experience on a professional basis began in Fall of 1972 when he was hired at CSUN (California State University Northridge). Although he continued interpreting on a part-time basis for CSUN until he moved to San Diego County in 1991, he gravitated more toward community interpreting through community organizations such as Greater Los Angeles Council on Deafness (GLAD) (primarily in the Los Angeles area) and, since 1991, Deaf Community Services of San Diego (DCS) and Network Interpreting Service (primarily in the San Diego County area) as well as RISE Interpreting (in the Riverside County area) and on direct contracts with the San Diego County Court system, Sorenson Video Relay and many private clients.
Special experience and skill areas:
*Platform
*Courtroom and Legal -- Civil, Domestic and Criminal including
law enforcement and jail
*Medical (Doctor office, Emergency Room, Surgery, Hospital, Sensitive)
*Mental Health (Counseling and sensitive handling, both out-patient
and in-patient)
*Self-help and Recovery (including 12-step -- AA / Al-Anon / NA
/ CA / OA)
*Vocational & Job Development
*Seminars and Trainings
*Academic
*Government and Public Service Agencies, including Social Services,
Family Services and benefits
*Religious (any denomination -- expertise in religious signs)
*Personal: Weddings, Funerals, Family events
*Numerous specialty and high-profile assignments
*Video Relay Interpreting
*Guest Speaker on Interpreting Experience and Code of Ethics
Link to Doug's
Guide to Information on Getting Started in ASL and/or Interpreting:
http://www.wordwiz72.com/interp/info.html
Affiliations and Activity (present and past):
| National Association of the Deaf (NAD) | National Association of the Deaf (NAD) Level 5 (Master) -- 1983-present Service on numerous certification evaluation panels |
| Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) | RID Comprehesnive Skills Certification (CSC)
-- 1976-1984 President of local chapter 1978-1981 Service on numerous certification evaluation panels 1977-1982 Currently RID member based on NAD-V certification. |
| Other affiliations and certifications: | Various other certifications from schools, local organizations, etc. |
Send e-mail: doug@wordwiz72.com
For first-time contacts, initial contact is preferred through E-MAIL.
If inquiring about availability for a specific assignment, please include date, time and location.
PLEASE NOTE: I am an individual, freelance interpreter, not an agency.
I do not employ any other interpreters.
Generally, for one-time jobs I prefer to work through agencies with which I am affiliated such as NIS or DCS, but am willing to arrange contracts for ongoing assignments such as through schools, churches, 12-step organizations, and employers who need recurring services for staff meetings, training, etc.
Tel: 760/ 781-1227
Post Office Box 300721
Escondido, California 92030-0721
Rate Structures:
Complete "Terms and Conditions" may be reviewed online, or an original may be sent to you by mail, fax or e-mail. (If you prefer PDF format, click here for PDF version.)
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Invoiced through Word Wizards
Communications services 
Additional Interpreting and Deaf Related Links:
Service Agencies, Organizations,
Resources:
Deaf Community Services
of San Diego (DCS) Non-profit community agency providing wide
range of public, career and interpreting services for Deaf people
in San Diego County
Network Interpreting
Service Agency providing interpreters in San Diego County
(and other states)
RISE Interpreting is a Community Interpreting agency serving the Riverside County area
Greater Los Angeles Council
on Deafness (GLAD) Public community agency providing wide
range of public, career, referral/resource and interpreting services
for Deaf people in Southern California
National Association of the Deaf
(NAD) Sets standards, certifications and ethics procedures
and represents the interests of Deaf consumers.
Accommodating Ideas Provides
access to professional interpreting services as well as information
and assistance in complying with ADA with minimal cost and inconvenience
-- helping businesses expand their opportunities in hiring and
customer service in the most efficient and economical ways possible
Registry of Interpreters for the
Deaf (RID) Sets standards, certification and ethics procedures
and represents interests of professional interpreters.
San Diego County Registry of
Interpreters for the Deaf (SDCRID) Local San Diego County
Chapter of R.I.D.
Sorenson VRS Provides
high quality video relay interpreting services to allow Deaf consumers
using ASL equal access to telephone communications. There are
several companies providing this service, but I recommend and
endorse Sorenson for several reasons: highest technical quality
and ease of use of videophone equipment and software, along with
free distribution, installation and service of proprietary equipment
that is far superior and user-friendly than all other products
currently in use, and because they provide the greatest overall
access to top-quality interpreters. Additionally, they aggressively
recruit and hire Deaf installers and tech support staff, providing
broad-based economic opportunities to the Deaf community.
Want to learn sign language?
Planning a career as an interpreter?
In response to many e-mail inquiries, Doug has prepared a discussion
of some of the issues in learning sign language or planning to
become a professional interpreter.
Click here to read Doug's
comments on getting involved in sign language and interpreting!
View Samples of Doug interpreting and demonstrating American Sign Language
I have uploaded some samples of videos taken during actual interpreting situations and other demonstrations of American Sign Language.
Click here to jump to an index of video samples.
Online Sign Language Resources:
Deaf World Online Dictionary:
http://dww.deafworldweb.org/asl
-- But remember: like all languages, ASL has its own grammar,
syntax and structure. Just as you could not take a Spanish dictionary
and look up word equivalents and put them in English grammar order,
the same applies to ASL. Using ASL correctly means learning both
the sign vocabulary as well as proper ASL grammatical structure.
ASL Browser: http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/aslweb/browser.htm
Comprehensive online dictionary with each sign demonstrated in
a QuickTime video -- good for those with fast connections that
will allow fast loading of these large movie files.
Handspeak: http://www.handspeak.com/
Online Dictionary of signs illustrated with animated photos, organized
both alphabetically and by subject categories.
ASL Fingerspelling: http://where.com/scott.net/asl/
Excellent resource for fingerspelling. Not only demonstrates how
to fingerspell, but also provides sample fingerspelling for the
student to practice reading. Also allows download of program (Macintosh
only) for offline use practicing to read fingerspelling, which
can be adjusted from novice (slow) to advanced (fast) and all
points in between!
Other Sign Language Resources:
DeBee Communications:
http://www.debee.com/ -- Excellent
resource for books, videos and other resources relating to sign
language and Deafness and Deaf Culture, with top-quality production
and materials.
Dawn Sign Press: http://www.dawnsign.com/
-- Excellent resource for books, videos and other resources relating
to sign language and Deafness and Deaf Culture. Wide range of
variety with top quality materials.
Recommended Books or Videos
In addition to products of DeBee Communications or
Dawn Sign Press, I would recommend any book by Lou Fant
or by Tom Humphreys and Carol Padden. Fant
and Humphreys/Padden focus on the true American Sign Language
used in the Deaf culture and go beyond merely showing signs to
showing how sign language grammar is properly applied. Additionally,
material from DeBee Communications is strongly recommended.
Also recommended is the book "The Everything Sign Language
Book" by Irene Duke. In contrast, it is crucial
to avoid books that use "Signed English" or "SEE"
("Signed English Exactly"), which use adaptations of
ASL signs in English word order. Many Deaf people find this offensive
because it seeks to subjugate ASL, which is a natural language.
Just imagine how a native speaker of the Spanish would react if
they went into a high school Spanish class and found an instructor
teaching variations of Spanish vocabulary adapted to fit into
English grammatical structure....
Lou Fant has produced a number of books and videos over
the years, most notably "The American Sign Language Phrase
Book." Lou Fant, born to Deaf parents, was widely recognized
as the greatest sign language interpreter ever, and was active
in education for Deaf people and in training other interpreters.
I had the privilege of working closely with him during the early
1970s and his encouragement and positive attitude was highly influential
in drawing me to the field of professional interpreting. He passed
away June 11, 2001 at the age of 69 and will be greatly missed.
Lou Fant memorials online, including additional info about
his books/videos, can be found at:
http://www.speakeasy.org/~itisi/lou/
http://www.newhopedeaf.org/See/Other/Fant/Lou.htm
http://www.aslworkshop.com/Scrapweb/Lou%20Fant.htm
The husband/wife team of Tom Humphreys and Carol Padden has also written several books, including the book/video combo "Learning American Sign Language" which is widely used in college and high school sign languages classes. Humphreys and Padden are both Deaf, and hold doctorate degrees in fields related to Deafness and education.
James DeBee, for DeBee Communications, has produced
an excellent series of ASL instructional videos, called "ASL
Video Series." This is a high-quality series from a well-known
DEAF producer who has produced numerous videos for television,
videos and is highly regarded as a consummate professional by
hearing and Deaf alike. This series works at a number of levels:
there is introductory material signed by Mr. DeBee; there are
several vignettes in each lesson in the series, which are acted
by Deaf actors in ASL; there is a "classroom" lesson
in which a Deaf instructor explains the vignette; then Deaf sign
models demonstrate every sign used in the vignettes, then after
this has been done for each vignette, all of the vignettes on
the tape are again shown, run together in a seamless story line.
Then they are once again signed by other Deaf models showing the
variety of signing styles, from perfectly-formed textbook signing,
to everyday "street" signs as used by real Deaf people.
Following that, a grammar lesson is presented by a Deaf expert,
and a lesson in Deaf history and culture is presented. It is comprehensive,
works at multiple levels so both beginners and advanced students
can enjoy it, and utilizes extensive quality resources from the
Deaf community and Deaf academia. Strongly recommended.
For more information check out the DeBee Communications website:
http://www.debee.com/
Irene Duke has written an excellent book "The Everything Sign Language Book" (Adams Media, 2004), which is a concise but excellent overview of the history, structure and practice of sign language, including an introduction to beginning signs. Used in conjunction with a qualified course on ASL, this is an excellent introductory resource that gives a clear, easy-to-follow view of what sign language is, where it came from, how it works, and how you can be a part of it!
All of the books mentioned above are widely available in most book stores or online book sales such as Amazon.com -- I strongly recommend them.
