Wolves 6 Court appearance was this afternoon - case was dropped without even being bought before the court - apparently for lack of evidence.

However, over 100 Deafies and their supporters turned up to support the wolves 6 and it turned into an impromptu march round the block. Wolvie 6 I think a bit disappointed not to have the chance to have their say, except to media -
local reporters.

The court officials were appallingly un deaf-aware (shouting, yes, shouting, at people!) Look out for TV (crew were there -some said from See Hear - but maybe V TV? I don't know) and BDN.

See Hear = BBC tv magazine programme for deaf people, ocasionally good, but frequently patronising due to idiotic managing editor who is hopefully retiring soon.

[what's with this obsession with naming media aimed at deaf people after what they can't hear - See Hear, Sound Advantage, Read Hear, The Voice, Speak Out!, and countless others]

V TV = another deaf TV magazine, channel 4?? havent seen it but imagine it also has the odd good story along with countless bumfluff items about the latest thing in vibrating tampons to let deaf people know they have a period or whatever.

BDN = British Deaf News - organ of the British Deaf Assocation, 100 years old, set up to campaign for deaf rights, and after 100 years, have just about established that we have the right to be patronised and treated like shite as long as we accept our place in society, and vote for the right party (which one? any one!) when we're told to.

Hope that helps.

Dear Readers: I have found that American Sign Language has a French syntax, which is the opposite of Englsh. ASL cannot be spoken as a result of this. I believe that this is a ruse of to continue the isolation of the deaf community. The deaf community defends ASL with flowery love talk of the beauty and expressiveness of ASL. Even though I have witnessed people who were born deaf that could speak as well as any hearing person; the deaf activists here vehemently oppose anyone trying to teach them to speak. These speaking deaf persons learned how to speak as the result of the persistant efforts of their parents, and the advances in electronic transmission of sound should make teaching speech an easier process now. In order for a sign language to gain widespread acceptance in any given country, it has to be based on the language that predominates in that country. If BSL does not have the same syntax, that is subject-verb order, as English; they would all be better off signing and speaking pigdin English. A nonspeaking deaf person could in that case rely on reading to learn the finer characteristics of the English language.

Respectfully yours, Robert Meade "Bobby" "Israel" Deaf Messenger

I watched a See Hear programme once which gave an interesting investigation of the use of sign language in Nicaragua. It focussed on Bluefields, a mainly Afro-Caribbean community on the Atlantic coast. The British deaf people who visited the country discovered that, after a day of two, they could communicate with the Nicaraguan deaf. Moreover, hearing Nicaraguans in and around one deaf commuity in Bluefields used sign language to communicate with one another. Sign language allowed hearing people to overcome many spoken language barriers - people in Bluefields speak Spanish, English, Miskito languages and some local dialects. If sign language was practiced across the world, perhaps we could have a more efficient method of communication that requires less fuss than spoken languages - and deaf people may not be so marginalised.

Daniel - you have just made my day!

Sign language is probably the best form of communication when it comes to international situations. Unfortunately this is not recognised and many others tend to see sign language as 'mumbo jumbo' - which are both offensive and ridiculous.

British Deaf people have their own language (BSL) which has not yet been recognised by the British Government, despite the fact that it is in fact a language which has grammar, vocabulary and is the same as any other language except that it is visual.

BSL is a vital part of 70,000 people who use it as their first or preferred language in the United Kingdom, and it does not get the respect and understanding that it deserves - which leads to Deaf people being marginalised.

Sign language needs to be reinforced into society - which will help BOTH hearing and Deaf people. For example, when you go scuba diving - how do you communicate? How do soldiers during combat communicate? - gestures, using signs and visual communication. The uses for sign language are endless... and mainly so that Deaf people can have EQUAL ACCESS which has been denied for decades, even CENTURIES!

It's time for change. RECOGNISE BRITISH SIGN LANGUAGE NOW!

Gavin

I was most delighted to read about this story, and I am glad that Deaf activists and advocates are working to increase awareness of BSL.

Remember first that BSL is one of some 103 other known sign languages around the world. (The list may be increased to 104 if it turns out that Sierra Leonean Sign Language is a distinct language.) Check out the Ethnologue ( http://www.sil.org/Ethnologue) for data about these.

Some comments about some of the comments posted above:

* American Sign Language has strong roots in French Sign Language, mainly in part because an early 19th century Deaf educator, Laurent Clerc, came to the United States, to a school in Hartford, Connecticut. Clerc knew FSL, which, along with the sign language of the students already in Hartford, became the precursor to present-day ASL. Whether or not it is the "opposite" of English (whatever "opposite" means), I can say this: the syntax of ASL is so unlike spoken American English that the University of Chicago recognizes ASL as a non-Indo-European language, and I was able to earn credit to this effect.

* Members of the Deaf in communities in Chicago, and elsewhere, are fiercely proud of their languages. And many Deaf people I've known here have not purported to claim a stance of isolationism against hearies: quite the contrary, the Deaf community I have known is intimately linked with the hearing community here. Indeed, it's very hard to build an isolation, as many Deaf people are born to hearing people, and hearing people are born to Deaf children (so that you frequently find the case that some hearing children often learn a sign language as their first language).

There are many excellent resources to learn more about Deaf communities, Deaf culture, and sign languages. Among my favorites:

* When the Mind Hears: A History of the Deaf, by Harlan Lane (Vintage Press, 1984).
* For Hearing People Only, by Matthew Moore and Linda Levitan (Deaf Life Press, 1993).
*  http://www.deaf.com

But most of these resources, admittedly, tell things from an American perspective. Can anyone recommend resources for learning more about the Deaf community in the UK?

Thanks.

DEAF CHAIR NOW!

DEAF CHAIR NOW!