About Me

Howdy and welcome to my little corner of the Internet. My name is Paula Dunn and I have worked as a freelance and theatrical interpreter for the Deaf and hard of hearing communities for well over 20 years. If I get too specific, you’ll guess my age.

I taught sign language at California State University – Fullerton, University of California – Irvine, Golden West College, Santa Ana College, Cypress College and Disneyland – to name a few.

I helped establish one of the first – if not the first 24-hour on-call interpreter service for hospital emergencies back in 1980. I managed one of the first TTY-relay services before any of the phone companies even considered it.

I taught one- and three-day Deaf Awareness workshops to peace officers throughout the State of California. I worked for the only non-peace officer agency permitted to teach Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) classes and we had the highest ratings in the state.

I interpreted for the theatres and Comedy Clubs in Los Angeles and Orange Counties for… you guessed it… well over 20 years. I had the pleasure of interpreting at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts (aka Orange County Performing Arts Center), South Coast Repertory, Geffen Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, Ahmanson, Kirk Douglas Theatre, La Mirada Playhouse, Laguna Playhouse, Pasadena Playhouse and numerous smaller theatres. I interpreted for several Improv locations and the Comedy Club in Los Angeles. Did I mention I love my job?

I love the field of interpreting. Each assignment brings a learning opportunity. Please contact me if you need an interpreter in the Coeur d’Alene/Sandpoint/Bonners Ferry area of northern Idaho. You can reach me at (714) 267-2456. You may complete the “Contact Me” page to provide more information. Read on if you’d like to know how I got into this profession.

I grew up in southern Idaho. Helen Keller’s story always fascinated me. I read the book The Miracle Worker numerous times and practiced the ABCs. I didn’t do anything with it thinking, “Boise would *never* have sign language classes.” After all, I’d never seen a deaf person in town so they must not live there.

When I worked as a candy striper (notice that’s one “p” not two) at a local hospital, two deaf women came into our small coffee shop. I learned to sign coffee, milk, sandwich. Several months later, my best friend and I took the train to Oregon to go skiing. The same two deaf women were on that train. do do do do, do do do do (Twilight Zone sound). I learned to sign vacation, snow and ski. Still I did nothing about it. Then, years later, after I got married, my husband’s cousin had a daughter whom they learned would lose her hearing. The mom scoped out classes and actually found one taught through Easter Seals! She asked me to take it with her and… I’ve signed ever since. Of course, little did I realize that Manually Coded English (SEE signs essentially) was *not* really sign language.

A couple of years later I heard about a program at CSUN (Cal State University – Northridge) that would last three months and offered a $500 / month stipend to attendees. I called at the last minute – after the application period had closed. I spoke with Mel Carter (wonderful man with a delightful sense of humor and an amazing memory) who accepted my application. I came to California on Christmas Eve and enrolled in the program in January.

I got offered a job from one of the two required three-week internship sites. I dithered about accepting since I’d never lived out of state. After all, this three-month gig was temporary. I finally accepted and said I would only stay for a year. Yeah, right. I stayed far longer than I ever intended!

I have since moved back to Idaho – northern Idaho this time. Beautiful scenery and wild animals abound. If you want an interpreter in the Coeur d’Alene, Sandpoint or Bonners Ferry area, I’m your gal.

In a nutshell, that’s my story. Obviously I had to unlearn my MCE and work on getting more ASL type skills. Still learning to this day and loving every minute of it.

Here is a short list of the some of the wonderful people / groups for whom I’ve had the opportunity to interpret.