Q&A with Cindy Lear, Co-Founder of Associates in Sign Language

417 Magazine: How did your business start, and what inspired you to create a business around sign language?
Cindy Lear: I moved from Kansas City where I was a state director for mental health services for deaf people in the state of Kansas. I moved down here and could not recreate my former position. When I moved to Springfield, I discovered the services provided were probably 10 years behind what they were in other urban areas. I met Rebecca Blitch who moved here from Vermont and discovered the same thing… We met and said, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if we could start a company here in Springfield that would be a one-stop scheduling coordinating service for interpreting?’

417: What kind of events and settings do you typically provide sign language interpreters for?
C.L.: We have contracts with the state, and we provide social services, court and hospital interpreting. All of our interpreters are certified and licensed to provide the highest quality of interpreting available. One of the biggest needs we fill are for area schools that have difficulty filling interpreter vacancies in their districts or their full time interpreters needing a sub for the day.  We have done interpreting for area employers who have deaf employees—like Silver Dollar City—or for deaf students attending area colleges. For fun work, you may find us interpreting shows at Hammons Hall or at Branson Shows.

417: For anyone interested in learning sign language or supporting the deaf community, what advice would you give them on where to start?
C.L.: A person who is interested has to start by taking sign language classes, whether they do that through MSU or OTC or they go to a designated interpreter training program, that would be the place to start. Learning the language is really hard, and you have to really commit if you want to be fluent in it.

Learn more about Associates in Sign Language.