Sign Language

My father taught me the alphabet used by deaf people when I was a little girl. It was something I never forgot, but never really had occasion to use. I always promised myself that one day I would learn how to "speak" to deaf people, but it was one of those things I never ever got round to. Until now. Two things prompted me to get off my backside and actually do something about finally learning at least the basics of BSL (British Sign Language). Firstly, I teach special needs children in a mainstream primary school. Thus far, we have not had any deaf children come through the school, but with the emphasis these days on inclusion, the chances ...  Read the complete review

I have always been fascinated by British Sign Language ever since I used to watch Vision On as a little girl. It is something that I have always meant to learn but have never made the time to do it until last year. Two things contributed to me finally making the effort to learn the first was the fact that I have more time now that I have left work. Secondly a specific incident happened in April last year that made me finally seek out the information to get started. I went into Walsall town centre on Good Friday to watch the procession of witness, the re-enactment of Christ’s journey to his crucifixion, during which we sing hymns and say prayers. Whilst we ...  Read the complete review

+ What is Sign Language? + Sign Language is the language for the deaf and is also preferred by the Hard of Hearing community as well. The language is non-verbal and uses the hands and facial expressions to communicate with others. The language has developed over hundreds of years as well as creating new signs for new things in the world. Also the language keeps up with the new technology as our world develops over the years There are 5,000,000 - 10,000,000 who are deaf or Hard of Hearing in the UK. Around 50,000 use British Sign Language (B.S.L) in the UK. Many of the deaf community prefer using BSL as there first language. Many people will need to ...  Read the complete review

If anyone had asked my opinion on sign language 3 or 4 years ago my mind would probably gone to signs involving one or two fingers only! Now though things have changed. Our family has a profoundly deaf pre-teenager living with us and we have had to learn to communicate in a hurry. I received a phone call asking if we could foster this young person until a long term family had been found, the courts had already decided that he was not going home again. I was told that ‘Danny’ could not hear at all or lip-read therefore his only mode of communication was British sign language (BSL) and we knew none at all. A very far from perfect arrangement and I ...  Read the complete review