Welcome to Pathway to Practice:
Preparing Interpreters for Situations with Legal Implications
Northeastern University’s American Sign Language and Interpreting Education Program was awarded a U.S. Department of Education Rehabilitation Services Administration grant for $2.25 million to prepare interpreters to work with individuals who are Deaf and DeafBlind in situations with legal implications. The five-year project officially launched on October 1, 2026.
The gap
Training hasn’t kept pace with where interpreters work
Interpreters are routinely asked to work in settings where the stakes are high, and the rules are unfamiliar such as benefits determinations, disability rights proceedings, independent living contexts, healthcare systems, and care and protection matters. Most haven’t been prepared for the linguistic, procedural, and ethical demands these situations bring. The result is a real shortfall in communication access. Deaf and DeafBlind people don’t have enough interpreters who know this territory well.
Legal interpreter education has traditionally meant courtroom training. This project is about what surrounds the courtroom: the legal-adjacent situations interpreters encounter far more often, where people’s rights, benefits, and independence are on the line.
The project
Building a Program of Learning together
Pathway to Practice is developing a Program of Learning for Deaf and hearing trainees and supervising partners that will include online modules, reflective practice sessions, and applied learning experiences. An instructional designer and teams of subject matter experts are building the curriculum and teams of reviewers will provide feedback on all content.
Year one is dedicated to building and reviewing the Program of Learning. Starting in year two, the Program will be offered to a new cohort of trainees and supervising partners each year, through year five.
Stay tuned
Questions in the meantime? We’d like to hear from you. Contact us at [email protected].
The contents of this website were developed under grant H160D260014 (ALN 84.160D) from the Department of Education. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. (Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1221e-3 and 3474.)