Formerly the League for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and the EAR Foundation
Voice/TTY 615-248-8828 · Video Phone 615-290-5147
Request an Interpreter
One of our signature programs, Interpreting Services, provides many ways to help you communicate with the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Our interpreters play an important role in connecting the Hearing and Deaf worlds. That's because we are the sole provider of qualified interpreting and comprehensive services to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Middle Tennessee region and parts of Southern Kentucky.
Imagine getting a doctor's report in Arabic. Or your employer's training manual in Italian. Or a legal document in Chinese. For those who are Deaf, English can be as confusing to them as a foreign language might be to you.
Deaf individuals have their own language-American Sign Language (ASL). It is considered a foreign language, not a manual code for English. ASL has a unique structure and creative flexibility allowing it to serve the same social and intellectual functions as spoken languages.
We provide interpreting services on a walk-in basis during scheduled business hours in Nashville, Clarksville and Murfreesboro. You can also schedule an interpreter for almost any situation–a doctor's office visit, in a university classroom, for a job interview or for a courtroom appearance.
Contact Debbie Shirley, 615-248-8828 (V/TTY) or at ds@hearingbridges.org.
Emergency interpreting services are also available 24 hours a day by calling 615-244-0979 (V/TTY). Emergency situations include those involving hospitalization, emergency room care or law enforcement officials.
We also offer video phone service provided as a courtesy by Sprint and by Sorenson Communications. This service uses computer technology to help send and receive phone calls where parties can see each other on the monitor. Both local and long distance calls can be made during Hearing Bridges' regular business hours. Video phone service number to reach staff is: 615-290-5147.
For more information, contact Eric Workman, 615-248-8828 (V/TTY) or ew@hearingbridges.org.
Those who are hard of hearing might use hearing aids or other devices to assist them. In addition, some use a technique known as speech reading (formerly known as lip reading). There are situations such as business meetings, conferences or training sessions where a captioning service would help those who have hearing loss including those who are deaf and do not understand sign language. Hearing Bridges offers communication access and note services through two different types of programs.
The Typewell Educational Transcription System (Typewell) is a real-time transcription service. A trained typist uses a meaning-for-meaning system. In other words, the transcriptionist does not type every word that is said but may condense language used while maintaining the full meaning intended by the speaker. The transcription may appear on a laptop in a one-on-one setting or on a larger monitor for group settings. If the computer screen is sufficiently enlarged, Typewell will help Deaf-Blind individuals who cannot see well enough to benefit from a traditional sign language interpreter. Users can also type questions or comments to the transcriber as well as take notes on their own computer.
Hearing Bridges also provides the option of CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation) services. CART is a verbatim (complete translation) of all spoken words and environmental sounds, not a summary transcription service. We contract with only the top quality CART providers in middle Tennessee to provide communication access for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing communities in environments where the demand is for scrolling text to be viewed by participants. This service may be provided for individuals or in large group settings.
The requesting facility would be responsible for providing a monitor or projector/screen for situations with larger audiences.
To inquire about Typewell or CART services, contact Debbie Shirley, 615-248-8828 or ds@hearingbridges.org.