Two Deaf young people deliver Deaf awareness for explorer scouts
Two Deaf young people from Doncaster Deaf social club have been teaching Pegasus explorer scouts in Doncaster the basics of British Sign Language (BSL) and given a valuable insight into life as a Deaf person.
Barry, a student at Communication Specialist College Doncaster and Megan, who works at Little Learners Day Nursery, both attend Doncaster Deaf Social Club and have been working to teach the explorer scout group Deaf Awareness.
Megan shared with them her cochlear implant and explained how it felt to be Deaf. The explorers learnt basic BSL greetings, as well as how to sign family members, the alphabet and numbers. The training finished with a fun game of BSL bingo.
Barry said: “It was great to share our knowledge with the explorers where I attend, and we hope that what we have taught them will help them to communicate better with Deaf people.
"We want to say a huge thank you to the Explorer Scout Group for inviting us to provide the Deaf awareness training.
“As it is Deaf Awareness Week, we want to remind everyone how important being Deaf Aware is, and it means more people in the community will be able to relate to, and communicate with Deaf people.
“Anyone over the age of 16 who is deaf or hearing impaired and would like to attend a social club to meet new people and enjoy a range of activities can come along to our Deaf Social Club. We meet each week on a Thursday between 6pm and 9pm in The Blues bar at Doncaster Deaf Trust.
“You also could have the opportunity to make a difference in your community by supporting others to be Deaf Aware. Most weeks we enjoy socialising, playing sports, going out on various trips - all free of charge.”
Doncaster Deaf Trust also offers a free online Level 1 British Sign Language course covering basic signs including greetings, numbers, addressing people, travel and transport and hobbies.
You can start learning at www.doncasterdeafsign.org.uk
