The video begins with a short title page with pink background and IWD in large bold white letters
International Week of the Deaf text appears below.
A blurred image of a man using BSL and the words: International Week of the Deaf Sign Language Rights for all Senior Citizens appears in white text.
A man sits in front of a cream wall, and there is a woman standing behind him, and another person sitting beside him off screen.
Jim: I learnt sign language at school in April 1936, before the war broke out in 1939, everyone was signing.
A man stands in a crowded room beside a stair case, he is wearing a blue jumper and using BSL.
John: In those days and well into the past sign language relied a lot more on fingerspelling and there wouldn’t have been as many ‘signs’ like there are now, that’s what it was like in the old days.
A man wearing glasses and a shirt sits at a table with people sitting beside him off screen. He signs.
Malcolm: Sign Language is very very very important.
The video cuts back to John, standing in a crowded room beside a stair case.
John: Everything was spelt out and I grew up with this so it’s second nature to me but not everyone copes with that much fingerspelling. I’m comfortable using both the old way, and the new way.
A woman sits at a grey and white seat, behind a table. There are 2 windows behind her. She signs:
Rachael: It’s so important that deaf and hearing people are seen as equals.
The video cuts back to John, standing beside a stair case in a crowded room.
John: Growing up, I used different forms of sign language at home, and when I was with my friends, socializing. In that sense, I suppose I grew up with two languages. I would sign one way at home with my family then differently at school.
The video cuts back to Rachael sitting on the grey and green seat.
Rachael: Deaf people and hearing people live in the same world, we need to know how to communicate with each other. Whether it’s in a shop, or where ever
A man sits in a crowded room with people sitting behind him using BSL. He signs.
Anthony: Sign Language for communication is so important, it allows us to converse, discuss and connect
A woman is sitting in a room with people sitting, and standing behind her. They are signing to each other and drinking cups of tea. The woman signs
Margaret. Sign language is very good. When I was small, I might have been about 2 and a half, I started school and I couldn’t sign at all. I didn’t really know what was going on or where I was or that I was Deaf! I watched everything and started to become more familiar with everything. When I moved from junior school to primary school my understanding improved and I started to pick up and learn Sign Language. I loved school, I was really happy there. I rarely went home because my friends were like my brothers and sisters, I was so happy. I was at that school from the age of 2 and a half, and I left when I was 18. I was so emotional that I cried. I went on to get married…I’m getting emotional now. [Margaret wipes tears from her eyes]. My 2 daughters were brought up with sign language. I’m so lucky they can both sign, we communicate well. I’m so proud of them. My grandson, Seb, is starting to sign too. He signs things like, ‘toilet, water, no, hungry.’ We’ve recently had a new addition to the family, but we haven’t been able to teach them sign yet. The baby is only one week old!
The video cuts back to a man wearing glasses and a shirt sits at a table with people sitting beside him off screen. He signs.
Malcolm: Sign language gives us a means to communicate and it’s only by the ability to communicate that you are able to learn and gain knowledge and have access to the world around you. It’s very very very important.
The video cuts back to John, standing in a crowded room beside a stair case. He signs.
John: I think teaching a GCSE BSL would not only greatly benefit the deaf community but also the hearing community.
The video cuts back to Rachael sitting on the grey and green seat.
Rachael: I teach sign language and my hearing students are so enthusiastic to learn the language which is a sure sign of equality.
The video cuts back to Anthony sitting in a crowded room with people sitting behind him using BSL. He signs.
Anthony: Sign language plays a huge role in equality. We are always the ones having to adapt to society but why shouldn’t hearing people learn sign language? That way we’d all be able to communicate and we’d all be equal. It’s that communication that’s important.
The video cuts back to Rachael sitting on the grey and green seat.
Rachael: We’re living in the 21st Century and everyone should learn BSL, it’s the 21st Century - come on!
The video cuts to Margaret who is sitting in a room with people sitting, and standing behind her. They are signing to each other and drinking cups of tea. She signs
Margaret: Sign language rights for all. Sign language rights for everyone.
The video cuts back to a man wearing glasses and a shirt sits at a table with people sitting beside him off screen. He signs.
Malcolm: Sign language is a right for all that allows people to understand one another.
The video cuts back to John, standing in a crowded room beside a stair case. He signs.
John: BSL rights for all, for deaf and hearing people.
The video cuts back to Rachael sitting on the grey and green seat.
Rachael: Sign Language is a right for all and this is worldwide.
The video ends with an image with pink background and IWD in large bold white letters
International Week of the Deaf text appears below.
International Week of the Deaf, day 3 - Sign Language Rights for all Senior Citizens
The global population is increasingly ageing, and deaf people are a part of this trend. Some deaf senior citizens live in care centres and nursing homes where they can enjoy the companionship of other deaf people and with staff who use sign language. However, many others are isolated in places which do not provide services in sign language. As a result, deaf senior citizens do not benefit from their fundamental right to receive information and services in their national sign language.
Truly inclusive environments for deaf seniors should ensure access to information and social settings in sign languages. Public authorities must ensure all information destined for senior deaf citizens is accessible in their national sign language and service providers have fluent sign language skills for deaf senior citizens to be given the same opportunities as others.
"It's through communication, that we are able to learn and gain knowledge and to be aware of what is going on in the world around us. With Sign Language, we can have access to that."
