Celebrating International Week of Deaf People
by James Postlethwaite, Marketing Officer – Connecting Choices
International Week of Deaf People aims to raise the profile of Deaf communities around the world and runs between 19 – 25 September 2022. This years theme is about building inclusive communities for all.
History of British Sign Language
International Week of Deaf People was first launched in 1958 in Italy, the week is celebrated through various activities by Deaf communities all around the world annually. The purpose is to promote the positive aspects of deafness, social inclusion and raise awareness of the organisations that support those who are Deaf. 10 million people in the UK have a hearing impairment, deafness or hearing loss and there are currently 151,000 British Sign Language (BSL) users. The primary way to communicate with a Deaf person in the UK is using BSL. Sign language uses hand movements, facial expressions and body language to communicate.
Deaf children were often discouraged and even punished for signing as they were forced to learn finger spelling including lip-reading. Thomas Braidwood was a teacher in Edinburgh and after successful teaching of a Deaf boy he specialised in teaching Deaf children. The first school for the Deaf in the UK was opened by him in 1760. As deaf schools became more prominent in the 19th Century BSL also became an established language. There was very limited central training in BSL, and as schools opened in different regions this led to a development of regional dialects. Consequently, sign language varies around the world and are natural languages which have helped to create Deaf communities.
Furthermore, there is evidence Deaf people were signing as early as the 16th Century and BSL is not simply English with hand signs as it is a different language with its very own grammar and sentence construction. BSL was finally recognised as a minority language in 2003 in the UK but still holds no rights in law. Scotland is the only region in the UK to have given legal recognition to BSL.
Your rights as a Deaf person
Deaf people face discrimination every day in life both intentionally and accidentally without consideration. There is no specific law in the UK which protects Deaf people from discrimination and equal opportunities. However, a Deaf person may not consider themselves as disabled but under the Equality and Human Rights Act they might be defined as ‘disabled’. The Human Rights Act could protect the individual if they believe that their rights have been denied because of have a hearing loss. A Deaf person also needs to consider the Equality Act which was first introduced in 2010 and next week marks its 11th anniversary. This was a landmark legislation with the aim to narrow the equality gap. The legislation could protect them against unfair treatment in the workplace and when they are out and about if their hearing loss fits the definition of a disability.
Access to Work Scheme
If you are an employer, you have responsibilities to make reasonable adjustments within the workplace. Employers can use the ‘Access to Work Scheme’ which is a publicly funded employment support programme that aims to help disabled people start or stay in work.
Employers can use the Access to Work Scheme to help you with:
• Access to a BSL interpreter for meetings.
• Working flexible hours.
• Allowing you to work from home sometimes.
• Specialist equipment such as phones, hearing amplifiers, portable hearing loop systems, text phones and conference microphones.
• Training for your employer and colleagues to help them better understand and support your needs in the workplace.
• Adjusting the layout of a meeting room and using good lighting to help the person with hearing loss see everybody clearly – this is important for lipreading.
• Modifying a job to take the needs of a person with hearing loss into account.
• Moving a person with hearing loss to an office with good acoustics – where sound is transmitted well.
• Providing communication support for meetings, such as speech-to-text reporters.
• Providing a portable hearing loop, or other listening device, for employees with hearing loss to use during a training course away from the office.
• Giving employees time off work for their audiology appointments.
Source: Deaf unity
Connecting Choices Programme:
The Connecting Choices programme works with partner charity Royal Association for Deaf people (RAD) who provides services to Deaf people. Since 1841 RAD has worked to ensure that Deaf people have access to services in BSL. Working together we aim to raise the profile of Deaf awareness and help participants enter training, education, volunteering or employment.
If you know someone in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire Moorlands or Newcastle-under-Lyme that we can support please contact Natasha Church, Head of Service: natasha.church@ixionholdings.com or 07919 004301.