Deaf people all over the world experience language deprivation and are being left out in many areas of society.
In September, which is Global Deaf Awareness Month, the International Week of Deaf people are celebrated this week, from Monday (19/09) to Sunday.
In support of this, DEAFinition, a non-profit company that provides a range of services and funding opportunities to promote equal access for the deaf community of South Africa, encourage individuals and corporates to intentionally evaluate the way in which they communicate to ensure their messaging is inclusive to everyone, including the deaf community.
Over 4 million South Africans have varying levels of hearing loss, and it is believed that close to 1,5 million people communicate in South African Sign Language (SASL).
DEAFinition and the Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB) aim for the status of SASL as an official language in the country.
In the SASL Charter it is pledged, amongst other things, that there must be an understanding of SASL as a language in its own right and that there must be a promotion of learning and high quality teaching of SASL, as well as multilingual deaf education for deaf children to be promoted and encouraged.
Furthermore, it is pledged that those working with deaf people must reach the minimum competency in SASL, and that professional SASL interpreting and translation services must be readily available.
An affordable online course is also offered, with a basic introduction to SASL.
The training is self-paced, with the link to the training available for a month from date of purchase, with a certificate of completion available to download.
On 1 September a SASL dictionary was launched in Cape Town. At the event Nathi Mthethwa, minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, said the country was working towards the officialisation of SASL as the 12th official language to ensure that deaf communities use their language freely like any South African.
Mthethwa said the dictionary would be available as an app on smartphones to provide standardised SASL lexical terminology. The department is also busy developing and promoting SASL through digital and intelligent systems to facilitate communication between hearing and non-hearing persons.
He said this would close communication gaps which affect many facets of a deaf person’s life, including education, and the limited ability to be understood by most of the South African population.
The dictionary will also assist the Department of Basic Education in teaching SASL and to inform assessment for the deaf in schools.
To register for the SASL online training, contact info@deafinition.co.za
