2018 Maine Revised Statutes
TITLE 32: PROFESSIONS AND OCCUPATIONS
Chapter 22: AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE, ENGLISH INTERPRETERS AND TRANSLITERATORS
32 §1521. Definitions

§1521. Definitions

As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following meanings. [1997, c. 749, §3 (NEW).]

1. Commissioner. "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Professional and Financial Regulation.

[ 1997, c. 749, §3 (NEW) .]

1-A. Deaf interpreter. "Deaf interpreter" means a person whose sense of hearing is nonfunctional for the purpose of communication, whose primary means of communication is visual or tactile and who provides intermediary interpreting.

[ 1999, c. 399, §3 (NEW); 1999, c. 399, §20 (AFF) .]

2. Deaf person. "Deaf person" means a person whose sense of hearing is nonfunctional for the purpose of communication and whose primary means of communication is visual or tactile.

[ 1999, c. 399, §4 (AMD); 1999, c. 399, §20 (AFF) .]

3. Department. "Department" means the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation.

[ 1997, c. 749, §3 (NEW) .]

4. Hard-of-hearing person. "Hard-of-hearing person" means a person who has a functional hearing deficit, who may or may not primarily use visual communication and who may or may not use assistive devices.

[ 1997, c. 749, §3 (NEW) .]

5. Interpreting. "Interpreting" means the process when a linguistic intermediary between a deaf or hard-of-hearing person and another person translates the spoken utterances or signs, gestures or writing of either person into a linguistic form other than that which that person uses as a primary and preferred form of communication. For the purposes of this chapter, "interpreting" or "transliterating" does not mean communication using cued speech.

[ 1999, c. 399, §5 (AMD); 1999, c. 399, §20 (AFF) .]

6. Interpreter or transliterator. "Interpreter or transliterator" means a person who provides any of the following services:

A. English-based transliterating, which includes but is not limited to conveying a message by visible representations of the English language such as manually coded English and oral transliteration. This process conveys information from one mode of English to another mode of English; [1997, c. 749, §3 (NEW).]

B. American Sign Language-based interpreting, which is the process of conveying information between American Sign Language and English; or [1997, c. 749, §3 (NEW).]

C. Intermediary interpreting, which means interpreting services rendered by a deaf interpreter to facilitate communication between another deaf person and another licensed interpreter or between 2 or more deaf persons. [1999, c. 399, §6 (AMD); 1999, c. 399, §20 (AFF).]

[ 1999, c. 399, §20 (AMD); 1999, c. 399, §6 (AMD) .]

SECTION HISTORY

1997, c. 749, §3 (NEW). 1999, c. 399, §§3-6 (AMD). 1999, c. 399, §20 (AFF).