“To the Children, We Are Not Invisible”: Roles and Practices of Early Intervention Interpreters

Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) frequently work with language interpreters during early intervention (EI) sessions, given the increasing number of families who speak non-English languages in the home and a scarcity of multilingual SLPs. SLPs and linguistically diverse caregivers report their language mismatch as an obstacle to provider–family collaboration, and SLPs describe low confidence in working with interpreters. Little is known about interpreters’ contributions to EI family-centered services and interpreters’ perceptions of their role in the EI setting. We conducted focus groups and semi-structured interviews with 22 EI interpreters and applied qualitative content analysis to investigate how they conceptualize their role during EI speech sessions with Spanish-speaking families. We identified 50 unique interpreter practices representing seven different roles: conduit, clarifier, cultural-linguistic educator, family advocate, relationship facilitator, clinical facilitator, and professional. These findings inform the development of implementation strategies for effective SLP–interpreter collaboration that address the unique challenges, priorities, and family-centered goals of EI.