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AALB Course Instructor Trix Bruce is an Approved Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf CMP Sponsor for Continuing Education Activities. A total of 60 Hours of Professional Studies Continuing Education Units (6.0 CEUs) are offered for this training at the "Some to Extensive Content" Knowledge Level.
Alisha Bronk, MA, CDI, is a certified freelance Deaf and International Interpreter. Currently, She is an instructor for ASL and Interpreting in the American Sign Language and Interpreting Education (ASLIE) program at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT/NTID). While getting her master's degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) with an Applied Linguistics Track from Portland State University, she became involved in international education. Ms. Bronk has since and continues to conduct workshops and training seminars around the world. She was one of the core creators of ASL Tales, a book/DVD series designed used in education for families and classrooms in all levels of ASL learning.
Corey Axelrod, MBA, is the founder and CEO of 2axend, a Deaf-owned strategic consulting and training firm working with organizations to provide user-centric experiences to Deaf and hard of hearing individuals. Axelrod is sought after as a consultant, thought leader, and trainer to organizations in the
education, healthcare, healthcare education, government and language services industries on issues of communication accessibility, inclusive organizational design, unconscious bias, risk management, and Deaf awareness and cultural humility.
Since 2015, Axelrod has served as the president of the Illinois Association of the Deaf (IAD). In this role, he spearheads IAD’s strategic initiatives and partnerships to ensure the Illinois Deaf and Hard of Hearing community’s collective interests are represented among Illinois’ policy makers. He also currently sits on Northwest Community Hospital’s Patient and Family Advisory Council. Axelrod is a recent past-chair of the
National Association of the Deaf (NAD) Outreach Committee, having been appointed by the NAD Board of Directors. He also served as a member of the Village of Arlington Heights’ Commission for Citizens with Disabilities, Illinois School for the Deaf Advisory Council and Chicago Hearing Society Advisory Council. In recognition of his contributions to local and national civic advocacy, the NAD awarded Axelrod with the
Knights of Flying Fingers Award in 2016.
Karena Poupard has been a professional interpreter for 20 years. As a daughter of Deaf parents and raised in a culturally Deaf family, including a Deaf brother and three Deaf aunts, all of whom sign fluently in American Sign Language (ASL), she became passionate in her career choices. As a native user of ASL she identifies and connects with the Deaf community, which inspired her to further her education in the area of ASL, Deafness and Interpreting. She began interpreting in the educational system in 2000, and then decided to begin her educational journey in 2004 towards becoming a professional interpreter.
She has since graduated with three degrees. She obtained her Associate Degree from Spartanburg Community College (SCC) in 2006 in ASL/English Interpreting. Karena then received her Bachelor’s degree in 2012 from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) in Professions in Deafness. She then received her Masters degree in 2015 from the University of North Florida (UNF) in ASL/English Interpreting/Pedagogy. Since receiving her Master’s Degree, Karena has began a teaching career at the collegiate level and is currently teaching ASL and interpreting at USC Upstate and Converse College. Karena has been interpreting in the community at large in multiple settings over the past 20 years and has 10 years of Video Relay Service (VRS) experience. Karena has also mentored emerging interpreters in ASL/English interpreting. She is passionate about her field and teaching and hopes to continue working with USC Upstate in creating a program area for signed language interpreting.
Paul May has been teaching ASL since 2000. He also taught Deaf and Hard of Hearing children at several K-12 schools in NC and SC. Paul and his wife, Holly, are licensed Foster Parents who had taken in several Deaf boys and now in progress to adopt 4-year-old adorable Deaf boy. Paul also had led several workshops for a community college at their annual “ASLville” event – “Introduction to Classifiers” and “Strong Language and Profanity.” Also, he did “Classifiers” workshop for SC RID chapter. He has produced two video clips, called, “Depression: An Overlooked Mental Illness” and “HIPAA: Patient’s Privacy Rights” in ASL for Deaf and Hard of Hearing people. He also developed a website for Services to the Deaf offered at the SC Department of Mental Health as an independent contractor. Paul is going to enroll into a PhD program in Curriculum & Instruction with hopes to improve Deaf education. Paul recently participated in Teaching Medical Interpreting immersion training via the CATIE center, NCIEC in Portland, OR. Paul is looking forward to seeing interpreters strengthen their skills in their healthcare settings with clarity!
Trix Bruce specializes in training interpreters. She keeps in close contact with Deaf community members in order to learn their interpreting needs. After interviewing Deaf people across the country, Ms. Bruce developed a training module to guide medical professionals who work with Deaf patients. Also, Ms. Bruce's own lived experience as a Deaf mother of a daughter who was a patient has given Ms. Bruce confirmation of the top concerns shared by Deaf people. Ms. Bruce is an approved sponsor for the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) Certificate Maintenance Program. Ms. Bruce is highly qualified to provide an inside view of deaf patients' needs in medical settings, and to advise medical professionals in promoting improved communication accessibility. www.trixbruce.com.
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