Partnership with RNID

Title : Partnership with RNID

Almost 57,000 people living in Scotland have severe or profound hearing loss and around 4,300 of them use British Sign Language (BSL) as their first language.

Many people don't realise that BSL has a completely different language structure from English, with its own grammar, hand shapes, hand movements and facial expressions to express different shades of meaning.

Susanne Dick, employment advisor at RNIDs Employment Training & Skills Service, says: "People think that if they give deaf people written information, they'll automatically understand it. However, this is not always the case and can lead to communication difficulties."

"BSL is a language in its own right and it can be difficult for a profoundly deaf person to learn English without ever having heard it. So for someone whose first language is BSL, communicating in written English can be challenging."

Some deaf and hard of hearing people can come across these problems when trying to access learning or training. Susanne, from RNID, the charity for deaf and hard of hearing people, spotted an ILA Scotland leaflet while in a Jobcentre with a client and thought this would be a good way to help him to find funding for a forklift truck course. However, she immediately realised there were going to be difficulties applying for the funding as the only contact option was a phone number.

She commented: "The main technologies to help BSL users make telephone calls are textphone, TextDirect/Typetalk or fax, but they're not always good ways to have a discussion or pass on lots of information, for example when applying to ILA Scotland for funding. However, I was able to call the ILA Scotland helpline to get more information for the client"

Susanne and her colleague Barbra Wylie arranged a meeting with ILA Scotland to find a way of working together. Now, through working in partnership, they are able to find ways to support their clients and help them to receive and complete their application forms successfully.

Thanks to ILA Scotland funding, Barbra has also set up a course in Information Technology for deaf and hard of hearing people at Glasgow College of Nautical Studies.

For further information on RNID, please call 0808 808 0123, textphone 0808 808 9000 or visit www.rnid.org.uk