DR RADICA MAHASE
Italian filmmaker and screenwriter Federico Fellini once said, “A different language is a different vision of life.” Fellini was attesting to the fact that learning a new language can positively influence an individual’s development on many levels. It can make an individual more receptive to new things – different cultures and lifestyles – more adaptable to new situations and open to new experiences.
Last Friday, Trinidad and Tobago joined the rest of the world in celebrating International Day of Sign Languages. This day, designated by the UN, presents a “unique opportunity to support and protect the linguistic identity and cultural diversity of all deaf people and other sign language users” and “to raise awareness of the importance of sign language in the full realisation of the human rights of people who are deaf,” according to the UN.
Also, importantly, “It acknowledges that early access to sign language and services in sign language, including quality education available in sign language, is vital to the growth and development of the deaf individual and critical to the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals.”
It is important to note that sign languages are fully developed languages and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recognises them, promotes their use and gives them equal status as spoken languages.
As a country that has signed and ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, it means that TT “accepts its legal obligations under the treaty and will adopt implementing legislation.”
The TT 2011 Population and Housing Census notes that there are 52,243 people with disabilities in our country. Of this number, 6,217 are related to hearing (some, lots of difficulty, or cannot do at all).
There are two schools for the deaf and various organisations supporting and advocating for people who are deaf and hard of hearing in our country. While there has been some progress since the first school was established in 1943 in Port of Spain, (three years later it moved to Cascade) many people who are deaf and hard of hearing are unable to access opportunities because we are yet to reach the stage where the use of sign language is accepted and promoted.
Jenny, 20, was born deaf. Her father, a schoolteacher, wanted his daughter to communicate and be independent.
He said, “I used to leave Mayaro and take her to a tutor in San Fernando who taught both of us sign language.
[caption id="attachment_977014" align="alignnone" width="776"] Sayeed uses sign language to communicate with an autistic child on an online session. - Courtesy Rahul's Clubhouse[/caption]
"I didn’t want that she alone would learn to sign, I wanted the entire family to learn so that we could share that with her. It took us about five years to become fluent. Now the whole family signs and we have long discussions; we sign about everything.
"I think that making that decision to learn to si
