Free sign language classes for families of deaf children
Published Date: 05 Dec 2022
Remember the first time you spoke to your baby and they responded with joyful sounds and the biggest smiles. Remember their first word and how you showed it off to friends and family members proudly. And how later on, your child’s inquisitive little brain started every sentence with the word 'why', which then followed with the most random questions that sometimes you just didn't have the answer to, but you tried anyway. Remember the looks on your child’s faces that showed you they were absorbing every little piece of information they received, and the amazement in their voices when they retold the facts they'd learned to their grandparents later on that day.
Now imagine being in a situation where you have to pay for a chance to share those precious little moments. But you can't afford it. How sad would that be?
Imagine your beautiful baby being unable to learn your language, and instead needing a more visual language because they can't hear the words you speak.
Shouldn’t it be a parent's right to learn the language of their child, so they get the chance to share those special moments which many of us take for granted? You'd think so, right?
My second child was born profoundly deaf into a completely hearing family. I knew I needed to learn British Sign Language (BSL) as soon as she was born but being on maternity leave, I couldn't afford to pay for the course. Therefore, it wasn't until she was one year old and I was back at work that I enrolled on a sign language course. I couldn't wait any longer as my clever child who was yearning for language was having hourly tantrums out of pure frustration due to lack of communication between us.
So, I joined my class of fellow sign language students expecting it to be full of parents in the same situation as myself. There was only one other mum of a deaf child on the course, plus a gentleman working with adults with learning disabilities and a few people who were receiving job seekers allowance and were doing the course to up-skill themselves and add something to their cv.
The BSL Level 1 course costs around £500 a year per person. This course teaches you the very basics of BSL. The costs associated with both parents and other family members learning BSL and progressing through the levels as their child’s development progresses, are much, much higher than this.
Out of all of the people on the course I attended, only the other mum and myself had to pay for the course, everyone else received theirs entirely free.
How is this fair!? If there is a pot of money which local authorities are willing to hand out to fund BSL courses for people to up-skill themselves (which is a scheme I fully support – I think everyone should have the opportunity to learn BSL), surely families who need to learn to communicate with their child, so that their child can integrate fully into their own family, should also be granted funding? Communication and forming connections with caregivers is an essential part of a child’s well-being and development (see the short film The Silent Child which depicts this perfectly).
Everybody has the right to communicate with their families and integrate into society. So why are deaf children up and down the country, particularly those who are born into hearing families, being denied that right because their parents are not able to speak a language they understand and cannot afford to pay for training?
Unfortunately, this is the harsh reality for thousands of deaf children born in the UK every year.
Language and communication are an absolutely essential part of living. The negative effects of delayed language and communication continue long into adulthood. Is it any wonder that deaf young people are 60% more likely to experience mental health problems than their hearing peers?
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