History of FRID

"The organizational meeting for the Florida Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf was held on January 23, 1971 at the Clearwater campus of St. Petersburg college."

These words begin the organization of a small group of people who met with a common goal: to provide quality interpreting services to deaf people. At this historic meeting, Mr. Albert Pimentel, director of the National Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, now known as the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, Inc. (RID), spoke of RID's background and "the reason RID was established was to improve and expand interpretative services throughout the United States." At this meeting, our first president Mrs. Betty Matthews, and her officers were installed by Mr. Pimentel. After this date, the rest is history.

FRID, from the very beginning, has worked collaboratively with organizations in Florida to improve the professional lives of interpreters and to improve the quality and accessibility of interpreting services for deaf and hard-of-hearing Floridians.

In 1997, FRID placed in writing, an agreement letter with the Florida Association of the Deaf. In that letter, both associations agreed to provide reciprocal free registrations for the president and a board member to attend the other's conferences.

Today, FRID has more than 600 members. FRID administers two written and performance tests for interpreters in the community and educational settings. Florida RID is the leader in setting the standard for educational interpreters by promulgating a Code of Ethics for those professionals. And, FRID provides at least 5 scholarships to its members each year for the following: the written RID test, the RID CI and CT performance tests, as well RID's CDI, OTC, and SC: L, the Florida EIE test and the Florida QA test.

FRID's early bylaws outline our purpose:

• Provide for a more effective use of interpreters and transliterators;
• Exchange ideas, opinions and experiences in our profession;
• Further the use of all effective communicative skills for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing people;
• Strive for the attainment of the highest standards in the use of communicative skills;
• Create awareness of the need for interpreting services;
• To act as a body to advance professional and ethical standards; and
• To assess interpreters through the Quality Assurance program, and the Educational Interpreter Evaluation Program.

Although the bylaws have been revised over the years, FRID's commitment to the profession and the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing communities remain as strong today as it did when FRID was established