The success of deaf dancer Rose Ayling-Ellis on Strictly Come Dancing has sparked a 257 per cent rise in enquiries for sign language courses.
The EastEnders actress won the 19th edition of the BBC’s popular dance competition last week, with her determination, resilience and can-do attitude serving as a beacon of hope for all within the deaf community.
Cumbria Deaf Association (CDA) has already seen enquiries about sign language classes balloon from six or seven a month to an average of 25 in recent months.
Since September, CDA has also seen an increase in contact from professional bodies and arts and tourism venues enquiring about the delivery of deaf awareness training.
Despite the huge benefits, there is a downside, the CDA said. The problem with all the publicity around deafness, the charity said, is that it is creating the idea that all deaf people experience deafness in the same way.
They believe this could create the risk of people making assumptions and detracting from the issues affecting many profoundly deaf people who have never heard a spoken word of English.
“A few years ago there was a great deal of hype around autism, at the time many assumptions were made but now people better understand that autism, as with diabetes, dementia, asthma, vision/sight loss is on a spectrum and affects individuals in a unique way,” said Caroline Howsley, Cumbria Deaf Association General Manager.
Introduction to sign language classes proving popular
CDA say introduction to British Sign Language classes are very popular but they only give the basics.
“Not a deeper understanding of the rich culture behind BSL and deaf culture nor do they allow for teaching of regional dialects – yes, BSL as with English has different signs in different regions,” said Caroline.
Despite the challenges, the CDA welcome the impact Rose has had.
“The deaf community has been pleased to see a talented young woman embrace the opportunity to follow a creative dream, assisted by a skilled team of interpreters and supporters – her mother being her greatest advocate from a very young age,” said Caroline.
“Rose’s confidence in learning to dance, becoming a household name and a deaf ambassador has encouraged other people in the deaf community to ask what else they can get involved with. There is more that could be done but it often comes down to finance, who pays for the interpreter or communication support worker?
“Often there is a lack of understanding for the access and language needs of d/Deaf people and those who are hard of hearing or use hearing aids. Just recently I was on a Zoom webinar but had to leave because there were no auto-captions and the presenter was not visible, therefore I found it very difficult to follow because I could not lip-read or use the captions to assist my understanding.
“I have arranged a 1-2-1 session that will meet my needs another day. Even auto-captions have their limits, on a call last Friday we were talking about wearing “antlers on our head” but the auto-caption came up with “anchors on our head” – funny in this instance but imagine the confusion for something serious.”
Hearing aids
Caroline has an important point to make about hearing aids: “Hearing aids are just that, they aid hearing but do not make sounds clear or select one sound over another e.g. that of someone talking at your table from someone chewing loudly next to you,” she said.
“Many people wear glasses, which if we called them ‘seeing aids’ might have the same negative connotation that ‘hearing aid’ does. Rose has encouraged many deaf people, especially young people, to not be so self-conscious of their hearing aids.”
It is estimated that one in six people in the UK has some form of hearing loss.
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