Deaf in London - time to sit up and listen?
CommunityID, a partnership of deaf and hearing professionals, has received almost £500,000 from the Big Lottery Fund to provide free deaf and interpreting awareness training to 250 voluntary organisations and communities in London.
It means that over the next five years the not-for-profit company based in Islington can:
• Offer free deaf and interpreting awareness training to 250 organisations - vital community services that help people such as the elderly, those with mental health issues and HIV and AIDs patients
• Offer free British Sign Language level 1 courses for people from disadvantaged backgrounds to help breakdown down basic linguistic barriers
• Offer 'train the trainer' opportunities for five deaf people who want to become future trainers
• Fund production of modern educational video clips linked deaf and interpreting awareness
• Fund rolling video recorded feedback in the form of Vox Pops with both deaf and interpreting communities
Ian Hodgetts is a director of CommunityID and is a Member of the Register of BSL/English Interpreters (MRSLI).
He, along with co-director Colette Hogan, has devised the project and is passionate about trying to conquer what he sees as 'linguistic barriers'.
"Deaf people don't see themselves as having a disability - they are merely a linguistic minority. It's a language barrier more than anything," he says.
It is estimated that there are 75,000 deaf people in the UK using sign language and yet there are just 600 registered interpreters.
Ian says there is only one primary school that caters for deaf children in London - the Frank Barnes School for Deaf children - as more youngsters are forced into mainstream education...
Read more at the BBC.
Comments
OK, not wishing to put the cat amongst the proverbial pigeon but statements such as the above "Deaf people don't see themselves as having a disability - they are merely a linguistic minority. It's a language barrier more than anything,"
Always amazes me. As a wheelchair user I see no harm in ‘admitting’ I have a disability if I wanted to deny that I guess I could follow the above example and claim I am not disabled I am merely in the mobility minority. Changing the words round doesn’t remove the facts.
Yes, deafness is a language barrier, just as being blind or having a vision impairment is in deed a “visual barrier’ wheelchair users a “mobility barrier”
This is an ongoing argument and one with varying answers, if for example a deaf/hearing impaired person wanted to sue a theatre for having no hearing loop they would have a make a claim of “disability discrimination” The DDA seeing deafness/hearing impairment as a disability.
At the end of the day being deaf puts the deaf person (most times) at a disadvantage. Disadvantage=being less able=disabled in my view anyway.
Posted by: Ableize Disability Directory | August 30, 2010 08:02 PM
YOUR BLOODY VALENTINE Ghost-Hunting for the deaf and hard of hearing!The UK's very first event at the Valentine Mansion 12/02/2011. DARE YOU JOIN US?
http://www.ghost-haunted.com
Posted by: AbsolutelyHaunted | January 26, 2011 10:21 PM