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Community Corner

Knowing Her Signs: Laurel Woman's Experience as a Full-Time Interpreter

Laurel resident provides sign interpretation for myriad events.

To Carrie Quigley, her work as a full-time, professional interpreter for the deaf isn’t just a job, it’s a vocation.

Whether she’s signing in a gym during an athletic practice, in a courtroom, at a government meeting, in a classroom, or during religious ceremonies and services, Quigley says, “It’s a great feeling when you make communication happen, when you put everyone on the same playing field. It’s as if you’re doing what you were put here to do.”

Quigley, 53, of Laurel is neither deaf nor hearing impaired. As a little girl, she had no interest in sign language. Instead, inspired by a neighbor with Down syndrome, she grew up wanting to become a special education teacher.

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She pursued that dream at the University of Maryland during the late 1970s. But like many dreams, hers changed. Quigley took a class in signing. It whetted her appetite for more, and after receiving her bachelor’s degree in special education from Maryland, she enrolled at nearby Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., a world-famous university for the deaf and hard of hearing.

At Gallaudet, one of Quigley’s first classes required that only signing be used to communicate. American Sign Language is a separate, distinct language from spoken American English, and Quigley loved what she experienced at Gallaudet.

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“I became immersed in the language and the culture,” she said. “For me it was easy. I’m pretty good at picking up languages.”

After receiving her master’s degree from Gallaudet, Quigley became a nationally certified interpreter. She signed up as an interpreter at the Maryland-National Park and Planning Commission, and slowly began signing for more and more diverse groups.

“People would ask me ‘Do you know karate? Can you interpret for karate?’ And I’d say ‘No, I don’t, I can’t.’ They’d say ‘Try it.’ And I did, and I found out I could pretty much interpret for anything.”

During the 1990s, she formed her own company, Carrie Quigley and Associates, Inc. Her clients have included private business and the federal and local governments. Quigley has also interpreted in hospitals during labor and delivery, college classes and at doctor’s appointments.

“This is another reason why I love what I do, because I get all these different assignments and learn new things that I wouldn’t have otherwise known,” she said.

Quigley said the presence of Gallaudet University leads the Washington, D.C. region to have a large, active deaf community. Also, the Americans with Disabilities Act often requires organizations to provide interpreters.

“You really can communicate anything with sign language,” said Quigley. “It’s good for just about any circumstance.”

Quigley, as she has done so many times, demonstrated that during a recent seminar for art teachers in Arnold. Sponsored by Young Audiences/Arts for Learning Maryland, the teachers of the arts got up and talked about their own areas of expertise, which included play writing, acting, juggling and storytelling.

Quigley’s hands flashed back and forth, morphing between numerous symbols, her arms up and down and then side to side. Her face seemed almost elastic as her expression changed from a smile to exasperation and then back again. Often she mouthed words. And sometimes she leaned herself forward or from side to side to bring more meaning to a point.

Meanwhile, Aaron Krug and Stella Antonio sat across from Quigley, closely eyeing her every move. Afterward, they said they learned a lot. Antonio is deaf, and Krug is hearing impaired.

“She’s a great interpreter,” said Antonio through signing. “She keeps eye contact with me. If she senses I’m behind or that I look confused, she slows down.”

Quigley is mentoring Krug to become a sign language interpreter. “You have to listen, process it, and then put it out there, all at the correct pace,” said Krug. “Carrie does all these things just right.”

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