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'I felt so included': Sask. interpreter communicating COVID-19 information to deaf community

A Regina woman is helping bring deaf and hard of hearing people in Saskatchewan the latest details about COVID-19 in the province.

Karen Nurkowski, an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter, was hired by the provincial government to interpret the daily COVID-19 news conferences at the legislature.

"Deaf people need timely updates. They need updates about what's happening around them and it's important," she said. "We have to respect that ... deaf people have the rights and the need to have a barrier-free access to the same information that we are getting."

Nurkowski said she was surprised by the deaf community's reaction to her appearances.

"I thought I might get a few people interested in watching, a few people who wanted the updates all the time, but the most surprising thing is everybody's watching in the deaf community. They all want to see it. They all need to see it," she said.

Nurkowski starts off her days by watching other provincial news conferences to make sure her signing is consistent with others across the country.

She said the sign for "coronavirus" comes from the way it looks under a microscope. A deaf person started using the sign and it was taken in by the community.

"You can't break down every sign and they don't make sense in English. But that's what it looks like," Nurkowski said.

Patricia Spicer is a member of the deaf community and works at the Saskatchewan Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services in the Regina branch.

Spicer said through an interpreter that she was surprised, frustrated and puzzled that the provincial government started their daily briefings without an interpreter present. She said it went against last year's federal Bill C-81, The Accessible Canada Act, which recognizes American Sign Language as a language and states deaf people should have access to interpreters.

Heidi Atter/CBC
Heidi Atter/CBC

Spicer and others sent in emails requesting an interpreter be present, she said. Spicer said "it was amazing" when Nurkowski began her work.

"I felt so included with the information. I felt I got the important information that I was so craving and all my frustrations and disappointment went away," she said.

"For me to get the information in my own language, it was a huge relief. I knew that I had to stay home. I knew I should wash my hands regularly. I knew what to do. Without that I would still be worrying."

Spicer said ASL, her first language, has unique grammatical rules and expressions different from English, so reading captions wouldn't give her the full story.