Life & Deaf

I've been meaning to blog about this for weeks - but the article in April's Bulletin has finally spurred me into action!

Last month I attended a guest lecture at City university given by Katie Ford. Having only skimmed the email information beforehand, I was under the impression it would be an interesting talk about working with deaf teenagers by a City Alumnus. I was NOT prepared to have a lump in my throat for a full hour (with full-on tears for the last 15 minutes!).

Katie was talking about a project (Life & Deaf) she instigated with another SLT, Jane Thomas, and a Teacher of the Deaf, Helena Ballard. They worked with deaf teenagers in Greenwich. This demographic are at increased risk of mental health issues such as depression, as well as under-achieving academically and poor literacy levels. With the rise in cochlear implants, many are more 'invisible' than they were previously, with very good speech and able to function in mainstream settings. However, this invisibility also puts them at risk of being overlooked, marginalised and not receiving the support they require.

Katie et al wanted to find a way to help these young people, aged 11-19, express the way they felt - difficult for any teenager! But in particular she highlighted the difficulty these teenagers have in feeling 'at home' anywhere, without being able to fully engage at home or school, feeling like nobody can understand them. She noted the lack of self-esteem that came from finding literacy tasks extremely difficult, and so the team began a poetry project, with the rationale that grammar and structure is not important, and doesn't have to be "right" - the meaning must just be conveyed. Some of the poems were written in BSL and translated into English, some were spoken, some were written - all of them explored their own individual Deaf identity.

Their idea worked, and the teenagers they worked with produced incredibly moving and expressive work, which stimulated conversation with their families and teachers and peers. The children worked with Deaf poets, instructors and actors to refine their work, and learn to perform. This also gave them exposure to Deaf role models, for the first time for many of the children. In addition, the group met other people the same age as them who were also Deaf, reducing the feelings of isolation and difference.

The work was showcased at the Stephen Lawrence Gallery in Greenwich, in an interactive exhibition. In addition, Katie, Helena and Jane worked to publish this work in a beautiful, extremely professional looking book - so the authors and contributors had something tangible to be proud of and show off. And they really should be proud, it is incredible. Alongside the book is an accompanying DVD, with all the poems translated into BSL, resulting in an accessible book for everyone.

This project was so successful, the Life & Deaf website began to receive submissions from Deaf children and teenagers all over the UK. In response to this, the team organised two poetry workshops, inviting more children and teenagers to attend to work on their poetry, make friends, and share their experiences of being Deaf.

Not content here, they then hired a film-maker and made a short film of a 'collective poem' made up of parts of many of the poems produced for Life and Deaf. The teenagers themselves starred in the film which was shot around Greenwich and premiered at the Southbank Centre. It left me completely speechless - it is extremely moving, and I've watched it about 100 times since and shown it to everyone and anyone who will sit still for long enough!

The aim of the project is to improve self-esteem, to improve mental health, to create networks and friendships between Deaf teenagers around the UK. The amount of compassion, effort and inspiration from the team behind it is beyond words. They have worked tirelessly, completely in their own time, through maternity leave, redundancy and retirement, to make this happen. Because it SHOULD happen, because it is an amazing project that has obviously reached hundreds of people and is so worthwhile.

Hearing Katie talk, I felt proud to be an SLT student and determined to achieve something similar and desperate to be involved in something so undeniably GOOD.

The next stage of Life & Deaf (because they obviously can't stop now!) is a UK tour. From 8-24th July, 'Life & Deaf: Include me in the world' will travel around in a VW camper van, visiting communities, schools and organisations all around the country to raise awareness of their cause. I am going to be there on 8th July in Greenwich to see them off! In addition, the Good Morning campaign aims to raise deaf awareness by encouraging everyone possible to sign 'Good Morning' - add your video to the website!

If you do one thing today, watch the Life & Deaf film. It reminded me that we all can, and all should, make a difference: That's not all of me