TAMPA, Fla. — Hearing-impaired people tuning in to a news conference about the arrest of a suspected serial killer last week in Florida got a message of gibberish from an American Sign Language interpreter. “She sat up there and waved her arms like she was singing Jingle Bells,” Rachell Settambrino, who is deaf and teaches American Sign Language at the University of South Florida, told the Tampa Bay Times through an interpreter. Tampa Police Department spokeswoman Janelle McGregor told the Tampa Bay Times officials are conducting a review because they didn’t even request an interpreter for the Nov. 28 news conference. In September, as Hurricane Irma approached Florida and officials announced a mandatory evacuation, an interpreter in nearby Manatee County began signing words like “pizza,” “monster” and “bear,” along with other gibberish. Manatee County officials later said they were in a pinch and called on a county employee who had an understanding of sign language because he communicates with his deaf brother.

Source: National Post December 04, 2017 12:22 UTC