DEAF AWARENESS First of all, I would like to thank Ciara for giving me the opportunity to speak to the class about Deaf Awareness. Secondly, could everyone ensure that their belongings are underneath the desks and not causing any obstructions. In case of an emergency – follow Ciara! The aim of this lesson is to make the class more aware of disabilities by discussing deafness. By the end of the lesson you should know types and causes of deafness and learn to fingerspell.

What is deafness? Deafness is the loss of ability to hear normally. There are two types of deafness depending on which part of the ear is affected – it can be the outer, middle or inner ear. People can have hearing loss or deafness in one or both ears. People can have hearing loss or deafness from when they are born or can develop it when they are older, perhaps due to illness, an accident or the parts of the ear becoming worn or damaged. SKIP TO NEXT SLIDE AFTER POINT 2…..

Conductive hearing loss occurs when sound is not transmitted through the middle ear & can usually be surgically corrected. Sensory-neural loss is due to faulty nerve cells in the cochlea (inner ear) or in the nerves that transmit cochlear signals to the auditory centers in the brain. This loss is likely to be irreversible.

ACTIVITY In pairs, discuss how you think people with deafness or hearing loss could communicate. How is this different from people with hearing? How could this be more difficult? What might be good about it? How did not being able to hear or speak make you feel? Helpless, misunderstood, frustrated? More empathathetic? What problems do you think a deaf person may encounter? Trying to communicate with someone with no knowledge of deafness/signing… Embarrassment? Everyday life…..

COMMUNICATION HEARING PERSON DEAF PERSON Hearing: Talk, listen, gesture, body language, written word/email…. Deaf: Lip-read, sign language, gesture, body language, written word/email….

BSL HISTORY British Sign Language is usually referred to in its abbreviated form of BSL. Other languages have different sign language eg America, Australia, France, Germany. As recently as 20 years ago, the term BSL was not yet in regular usage, and the sign language of Britain's Deaf Community was regarded as silly movements and pantomime. Parents were told not to let their children learn because it would stop them from learning to lip read and speak.

The British Deaf Association's Dictionary of British Sign Language was not published until 1992 Approximately 90% of deaf children are born into hearing families who have usually never encountered deafness or sign language before. Many people are surprised when they discover that sign language was forbidden in deaf education and not used in the teaching of deaf children until about 20 or so years ago, and then not in all deaf schools. The British Deaf Association's Dictionary of British Sign Language was not published until 1992 Approximately 90% of deaf children are born into hearing families who have usually never encountered deafness or sign language before.

INTRODUCTION TO BSL Word order and grammar in BSL is different from word order and grammar in spoken and written English. In BSL the first thing you sign is usually the main subject or topic. After that you define the subject by commenting on it.

For example: ‘What is your name?’ Would appear in BSL as: Name → you → what?

Sign language relies less on 'words' and more on the inventive use of space and movement You use your hands, lips and face to show the meaning. Lots of signs are easy because they look just like what they are showing – you can guess by looking.

VOWELS Left handed Right handed The way your sign depends on your ‘handedness’!! How many people in the class are left handed? The vowels are easy to remember because they are the fingers of one hand pointed to using the other hand; from the thumb round is A, E, I, O & U. If you are left handed, the left is your ‘Primary hand’ which points to the vowels on your right hand (secondary hand). If you are right handed, the right is your ‘ Primary hand’ which points to the vowels on your left hand (secondary hand).

LEFT HANDED

RIGHT HANDED

ME MY NAME These signs form the basis of simple questions an answers. And can be put together like this... (skip to next slide) WHAT? YOU YOUR

Name you what?

Name me (then fingerspell your name)

THANK YOU! Thank you for your attention.