BSL
Why BSL?
British Sign Language (BSL) is the sign language used in the UK. It is the preferred language of over 87,000 Deaf people in the UK for whom English may be a second or third language (Source BDA).
Sign languages are fully functional and expressive languages; at the same time, they differ profoundly from spoken languages. BSL is a visual-gestural language which makes use of space with a distinctive grammar using handshapes, facial expressions, gestures and body language to convey meaning. Many thousands of people who are not Deaf use BSL, as hearing relatives of deaf people, sign language interpreters or because of other contact with the British Deaf community.
It is estimated that currently there are approximately 18 million people within the UK who have some form of hearing loss, that is one in three of the population. Figures are estimated to rise to 15.6 million by 2035, one in five! It is also estimated that there are 900,000 people in the UK with severe or profound hearing loss (Source Action on Hearing Loss). As a result of this many of us will encounter individuals with a hearing impairment at some point in our lives.
As we learn we also focus on Deaf Awareness so that we have some insight into some of the difficulties the Deaf face in everyday life. We examine Deaf Culture and etiquette and how that differs from hearing culture and the barriers this can raise, and how we can work to overcome those barriers to foster inclusion of the d/Deaf community.
THIS IS NOT A SIGNATURE ACREDITED LEVEL 1 COURSE
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