Abstract
In 1978, Congress passed the Rehabilitation, Comprehensive Services, and Developmental Disabilities Amendments (RL. 95-602). These amendments to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 authorized federal grants to states to fund interpreter training programs. Based on that legislation, in1980, the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) began funding regional and national interpreter training projects and has done so continuously to the present. The history of the inclusion of interpreter training language in the 1978 Amendments can be traced to influential leaders in the field of rehabilitation of persons who are deaf or hard of hearing. Their collaboration, relationship with supportive Congressional legislators and staff, and the confluence of time, talent and opportunity during the 1970s forged social change and influenced policy development regarding interpreters for persons who are deaf or hard of hearing. This article traces the history of this interpreter legislation and includes a summary of the author's personal interviews with Jerome Schein, Robert Lauritsen, Bill Woodrick and Marty LaVor.
Recommended Citation
Stauffer, L. K. (2022). A History of the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) Support of Interpreter Education. JADARA, 41(1). Retrieved from https://nsuworks.nova.edu/jadara/vol41/iss1/5
