Children as Medical Interpreters

"Well, I was always rather nervous when I was translating for my mother…You know the guilt and the anxiety that you feel whether or not you do the right thing..."

By Anthony Jauregui

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The California Senate is considering a bill that proposes banning young people from translating in all medical situations. If passed, the legislation would have far reaching effects, in hospitals, clinics, and even private doctor’s offices. There are already regulations that require HMO’s to cover the cost of translators. Unfortunately, the state government has trouble enforcing these laws. The bill’s author, Assemblyman Leland Yee, says using children as translators is poor medical practice. But some parents prefer to communicate through their children. Youth Radio’s Antony Jauregui reports. (May 19 on NPR's Day to Day)

Suzie Ramirez is 17-years-old. Ever since she was twelve, she had to play interpreter between her mom and doctors.

SUZIE (on tape)
Yeah. They don’t take me seriously at first like, “Why does she have to be here? You know she’s a grown woman.” But I do have to be there.

ANTHONY
Today, Suzie is at a local clinic where nurses speak only English and Suzie’s pregnant mom speaks only Spanish.

SUZANNA (on tape)
Y era mucha vitamina para mi bebé...

SUZIE (on tape)
Basically, they were just giving her medicine for her baby...and also they give her a vitamin supplement, and she wasn’t sure when to take them ,once after every meal or once a day. So I went and I asked the lady and she explained it to me, and you can overdose if she would of taken more. Luckily, I was there to understand it and translate for her.

ANTHONY
Suzie is like a lot of kids I know in Los Angeles with immigrant parents. Interpreting for our parents is part of daily life.

LELAND YEE (on tape)
Kids don’t have the vocabulary nor the content knowledge about what they are translating.

ANTHONY
Leland Yee, is a California state assemblyman. He’s proposing the law to keep young people under fifteen from interpreting in all medical situations.

LELAND YEE (on tape)
Well, I was always rather nervous when I was translating for my mother. You know the guilt and the anxiety that you feel...whether or not you do the right thing-- did you translate accurately, did you harm your mother, did you do anything wrong that might make your mother a little bit sicker than she should be?

ANTHONY
I definitely relate. I’ll never forget this one time when someone in my family was in the hospital. All of the sudden, my mom’ s like, “You have to translate.” But what the doctor said confused me. And all my family kept saying was, “Are you sure? Did they really say that?”

LELAND YEE (on tape)
So, often the information is translated inaccurately. The child themselves may not have a full grasp of the English language and therefore may not fully understand the information that has been shared with them. This is not a good clinical practice.

DR. GLUPCZYNSKI (on tape)
My name is Debbie Glupczynski. I used to work in a practice where we had a lot of patients from Vietnam and Cambodia. And I don’t speak any of those languages.

ANTHONY
So Dr. Glupczynski would rely on a service from AT&T.

DR. GLUPCZYNSKI (on tape)
But it’s very awkward to pass a phone back and forth between you and a patient. Because, especially if somebody is in the emergency room or something like that or they're in horrible horrible pain, and you're asking a question and then passing the phone back and forth...it's really quite awkward.

ANTHONY
Dr. Glupczynski would rather not have minors interpret, but she believes a ban on young people interpreting would be more of a problem than a solution.

DR. GLUPCZYNSKI (on tape)
I would be more concerned that it would set up a barrier to care in a place like the emergency room where it's really, really emergency and something needs to be communicated very quickly and there is nobody there to communicate with the patient.

ANTHONY
Back in the clinic in Los Angeles, Suzie’s mom says she’s against any law that would require her to use a professional interpreter instead of her daughter.

SUSANA (on tape)
Pienso que no está bién porque muchas de las veces se traducen por partes...

SUZIE (on tape)
She thinks that her own child is a perfect person for translating because sometimes you’ll be watching like a boxing match and she’ll notice that the professional translator won't say everything and he’ll miss parts of it so she’s like, “He’s professional. Isn’t he suppose to know everything? She notices that they miss parts of it, and since I’m her daughter we understand each other. We like speak similar terms. So, she feels more confident with me translating.

ANTHONY
If the new law passes, Susanna would be in a tough spot. Her daughter wouldn’t be able to interpret for her anymore, but the clinic wouldn’t be required to find someone else who could.