American Sign Language (ASL) Archives - Language Services Associates

LSA Sponsors the 2023 US Deaf Golf Championships

Posted on July 20, 2023May 14, 2024 by admin

5 min read

Language Services Associates (LSA) last week had the honor of sponsoring the 2023 US Deaf Golf Championship Tournament, hosted at the Northwood Golf Club in Rhinelander, WI. Going above and beyond typical corporate sponsorship, LSA worked with nationally certified American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter, Ann Sarkauskas, to dedicate her time and skill for the duration of the Tournament. Ann was instrumental in facilitating communication between the Chairman, Board Members, Tournament Players, Pro Shop Staff, Food and Beverage personnel, and many more, both Deaf and Hard of Hearing and hearing.

“Though a challenging environment and challenging subject matter, it was an enriching experience to interpret for 100+ Deaf people interacting with golf course staff and non-signing attendees.  LSA generously donated my time as their employee to the USDGA as a means of sponsorship for the association and the event,” said Ann. “The tournament just happened to take place in my tiny hometown, due to it having one of the nicest and most challenging golf courses in the country! I was able to visit my place of birth and raising while working to provide language access to the Deaf Community, to which I owe my profession and career this past 3 decades.  I am ever grateful to my employer, LSA, for their contribution, and to the USDGA for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!”

Throughout the week, Ann acted as a seamless broker between sign language users and non-signers. Her inclusion and expertise significantly contributed to the success of the tournament. USDGA Chairman Paul Rutowski expressed his deep appreciation for the collaboration with LSA, and the invaluable contribution made to the United States Deaf Golf Association’s Tournament.

“Ann, the top-notch professional interpreter provided by LSA, played a pivotal role in the success of our tournament. Her fluency in ASL and exceptional communication skills were instrumental in bridging the gap between signers and non-signers throughout the entire week. With Ann’s assistance, communication flowed seamlessly, allowing everyone involved, from the Chairman to the Board Members, Players, Pro Shop, and Food and Beverage staff, to connect and engage effortlessly.”

Paul went on to share, “I am truly grateful for the outstanding collaboration with LSA, as they fulfilled our need not only for Deaf ASL users but also for our service providers and operations staff. Their commitment to excellence made a lasting impact on our event.” About LSA  Language Services Associates (LSA) offers a full suite of language interpretation solutions to help optimize the experience of limited English proficient patients and customers. Providing native language support improves the efficiency and productivity of staff, raises customer satisfaction levels, and builds loyalty. For thousands of clients worldwide, in more than 230 languages, LSA provides a competitive differentiator in the healthcare, government, financial and banking, insurance, entertainment, hospitality, and manufacturing industries.

How to Address the Limited English Speaking and Deaf Community During the COVID-19 Crisis

Posted on April 8, 2020June 22, 2023 by Daniel Kristie

7 min readThe COVID-19 outbreak is causing hospitals and physicians across the country to increasingly utilize telehealth and video encounters. At the same time, government regulations are rapidly changing to allow for more telehealth to address the crisis. At the center of these developments is a dire need to reduce the amount of direct human contact in clinical settings. The risk of exposure to the virus in this outbreak is high. Health experts indicate outbreaks may become more common. In addition to the many known challenges COVID-19 is creating, limited English speaking and Deaf patients face additional challenges. Amid this crisis, heart-breaking reports of some hospitals having difficulties accessing interpreters are beginning to surface. Healthcare providers can solve these problems IF the right solutions are in place.

New Ways of Delivering Interpreters to Extend Care Beyond Walls

The growing importance of mobile healthcare underscores the critical need for interpreters-on-demand.

At every turn, healthcare providers and government officials are urging the reduction of human contact during clinical settings to alleviate the spread of the disease. Communicating with the limited English proficient population (LEP) and the hard of hearing only gets more difficult with these new guidelines and procedures. An added problem is that most health systems utilize their own communications and privacy protection platforms.

Industry experts have responded by developing a range of solutions to keep communications safe and reliable. Language Service Associates (LSA) has solutions and options available now for all levels of patient care.

A Range of Options

No one solution will work perfectly for all healthcare providers. The solution must match existing needs, ability to deploy, training time, clinical settings and budgets. Each option will bring with it “pluses and minuses” that each provider must evaluate.

Top-Line Option – Full Integration with Telehealth Platform

The best option remains a fully integrated telehealth solution that integrates with the patient’s Electronic Health Records (EHR). The new ViTel Net and Language Services Associates (LSA) platform integration enables clinicians to immediately add an interpreter within the existing telehealth workflow with just three clicks. This streaming solution works across multiple devices, regardless of a physician or patient location, and without additional equipment for the healthcare organization. By embedding the interpreter solution directly into a telehealth encounter, your organization vastly improves clinician workflows, reduces the chance for medical errors and readmissions for limited English proficient (LEP) and hearing-impaired patients. It’s a cost-saving, affordable, HIPAA secure, and sustainable option.

LSA’s IRIS Solution

Where full telehealth integration is not possible, another option is the use of LSA’s IRIS (Instant Remote Interpretation Solution) platform application. to enable a patient and doctor to seamlessly interact directly with an interpreter on an app. It is an application that is easily downloadable on mobile, computer or tablet. It’s also encrypted, secure and meets NAD standards.

LSA’s Interpreter to Your PlatformConnect

Many healthcare providers are already using some form of video telehealth platform (eCW, Teledoc, MDLive, etc.) or other conferencing solutions (Zoom, Teams, etc.). Changes in regulations now allow for the introduction of an interpreter into your existing platform. LSA’s Interpreter to Your Platform Connect option is a solution aimed at immediately fitting into an existing platform. It is a cost-effective solution, without significant IT development, for healthcare providers that must get up and running quickly. The challenge here is that patient privacy is still dependent on a third-party provider outside the control of the healthcare provider.

There are also several other solutions including video conference third party calls and virtual face-to-face, each with pros, cons and important security considerations. As our healthcare delivery model rapidly changes, healthcare organizations need flexible options for accessing interpreters. Language Services Associates has the solutions for your organization.

To learn more, click here to schedule a demonstration and consultation today.

Language Services Associates’ Alert On Coronavirus

Posted on March 6, 2020June 21, 2023 by Daniel Kristie

6 min read

Ensuring Language Services During the Coronavirus Outbreak

The recent outbreak of coronavirus has health experts and many businesses on high alert. Due to the rapidly evolving situation and novelty of “COVID-19,” the potential and methods for transmission remain unclear.

The health, safety, and welfare of our friends like you and the customers you serve is of utmost concern to us. Public health concerns like this touches all industries. However, it, of course will affect healthcare most of all. Out of precaution, Language Services Associates is also monitoring the progress of the virus and collaborating with many of our clients and partners to address this major health challenge. We will continue to be an active partner with you in your preparation efforts and in the event of a pandemic.

The Time is Now for Business Continuity Planning

Many customers are also asking about contingency planning should they need to move to a heightened quarantine model or if government authorities order less access to facilities. To be prepared, we are recommending all clients to plan now for enhanced migration to a video platform in the event personnel access to your facilities becomes more restrictive.

To help you mitigate further risk, and plan, we are encouraging all organizations who need language services to adopt our video remote interpretation services in lieu of in-person engagements. If you haven’t already done so, we can help you put a plan in place to:

move your face-to-face interpreters over to video remote interpreting (VRI) using our IRIS app
quickly scale interpreting by telephone through INTERPRETALK
deliver American Sign language interpretation by video
obtain back up services to your existing language service providers in the event they are unable to deliver given the demand or due to interpreters being exposed to the virus because they are in a call center environment
deploy our newest option to integrate video remote interpreting-on-demand directly into your existing telehealth platform and workflows
enhance online conferencing (Go-To-Meeting, Zoom, Microsoft Teams and others) with interpreters by API or phone

Our Dispersed Network of Interpreters Helps Avoid Risks

Language Services Associates provides access to a highly qualified global roster workforce of remotely distributed interpreters in over 235+ languages. Access to highly secure, remote interpretation services helps your organization continue to meet compliance guidelines as well as minimize the risk of virus exposure and the rapid spread of infectious disease. Unlike a large call center that can be compromised by an outbreak, our network provides access to distributed points of service and ensures the chance of uninterrupted service.

We are also experienced in disaster efforts and rapidly deployed interpretation services for government entities during several national crises over the years, most recently hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.

Because the best time to prepare is now, please contact us at planning@lsa-inc.azurewebsites.net to get more information on how your organization can be prepared.

We encourage you to continue to stay informed by following updates and advisories from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization.

LSA American Sign Language Interpreter Selected to Interpret for President Barack Obama this Veterans Day

Posted on November 10, 2009June 23, 2023 by Daniel Kristie

5 min readFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Media Contact:
Keri Robinson
Language Services Associates
(215) 657-6571 x356 (office)
(215) 779-1686 (cell)
krobinson@lsa-inc.azurewebsites.net

LSA American Sign Language Interpreter Selected to Interpret for President Barack Obama this Veterans Day
LSA is proud to continue serving the Deaf and Hard of Hearing communities

Horsham, Pa. (November 10, 2009) – On Wednesday, November 11th, thousands are expected to congregate at Arlington National Cemetery for the 56^th Annual National Veterans Day Observance. As President Barack Obama takes the stage to deliver the keynote speech, members of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing communities will be able to follow along, thanks to an ongoing initiative by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs to consistently provide accessibility to all of our nation’s veterans.

When it was time for the Department of Veterans Affairs to book a sign language Interpreter for the 2009 Veterans Day speech, they reached out to Language Services Associates (LSA) for assistance. “We have been providing Interpreting by Telephone (IBT) services to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs for the past 5 years,” said Laura Schriver, President and CEO, LSA. “We are honored and delighted they have selected one of our American Sign Language Interpreters to interpret for President Barack Obama this Veterans Day. This is quite a privilege and we look forward to the opportunity to aid in the accessibility of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing communities on such a significant day for our nation.”

As the languages services provider for the Department of Veterans Affairs, LSA is proud to help facilitate foreign language communication in the following VA Medical Centers: Columbia, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Bay Pines, Providence and Tampa.

About Language Services Associates
Since 1991, LSA has been helping facilitate foreign language communication in a variety of settings and industry segments, including healthcare, government, utilities, insurance and financial services. Founded by Laura K. T. Schriver, LSA is committed to providing innovative technology solutions, including Interpreting by Telephone (IBT) with real-time reporting and Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) services. With a network of more than 5,000 global Linguists, LSA offers exceptional translation and interpretation services to more than 2,000 clients worldwide in over 200 languages. The company delivers a full suite of premium language-based solutions, including IBT, Face-to-Face Interpreting, VRI, Document Translation and Localization, American Sign Language (ASL) and Intercultural Consulting. For more information on LSA, please call 1-800-305-9673 or visit us on the Web at www.lsaweb.com.