For the most in-depth discussion of my background, path to ASL, professional journey, and career goals, please visit the "Meet Carissa" page on the PDX Loves Signing website.
The short version is that I grew up with some signed English, became involved with the Deaf community because of my son's diagnosis of muteness, and began interpreting professionally in 2012.
I hold a Board of Interpreter Evaluators (BEI) Basic certification, have a 3.8 on the EIPA, a Superior score on Rochester Institute of Technology's Sign Language Proficiency Institute (SLPI), and a 3.0 ASLPI score (new test date pending).
In 2017, I graduated from Western Oregon University with a MS in Deaf education. I used to be a member of RID (but given their constant problems and anti-Deaf/BIPOC tendencies let my membership lapse) and maintain memberships in ORID, WSRID, NAD, OAD, and WSAD.
This year, I am looking to complete my CORE CHI certification for healthcare interpreting (assuming my hearing allows for that), as well as take my Advanced BEI exam (once travel back to Texas is possible).