Meet Katey Hernández

Interpreting Associate

BA, AAS

Education:

• Associate of Applied Science in American Sign Language Interpretation & Deaf Studies Certificate

• Bachelor of Arts in Special Education & Early Childhood Education

Katey began her unconventional journey into interpreting in 2011 when she visited the Ohio School for the Deaf during an Introduction to Special Education class in college. That experience inspired her to start learning ASL. She took her first ASL class the following semester, and her love for the expressive language and the diverse, vibrant Deaf community has only grown since.

After graduation, Katey spent four years as a high school Intervention Specialist while continuing to develop her ASL skills. Eventually, she decided to step away from teaching. Unsure of her exact path but committed to immersing herself further in ASL and the Deaf community, Katey joined the Interpreter Education Program at Columbus State Community College in 2018.

Despite facing the challenges of a global pandemic and a breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, Katey graduated from the program in 2021—one of her proudest accomplishments to date. During her final year, she worked as secretary for the Ohio School for the Deaf Alumni Association’s Community Center, where she gained confidence and deepened her language skills. She credits much of her growth to her time spent in that environment.

As an interpreter, Katey has worked in a wide variety of settings, including medical, mental health, business, government, post-secondary education, religious services, and non-profits. She is experienced in Deafblind interpreting, video remote interpreting (including VRS), and enjoys collaborating with Deaf Interpreter teams.

Katey highly values continuous education and has participated in numerous professional development programs. Recently, she joined Northwestern University’s Center for Atypical Language Interpreting (CALI) Mentoring Cohort. She also co-navigated at the DeafBlind Support and Access Network (DBSAN)’s DeafBlind Retreat of New England, where she spent a week learning and using Protactile alongside DeafBlind participants. Katey has passed the CASLI written Generalist Knowledge and Ethics exams and plans to take the Performance exam within the coming year.