New Zealand sign language students say courses deserve better funding

From the Manawatu Standard in New Zealand:

Sign language students at Feilding Community Learning Centre, are voicing their concerns on the lack of funding for New Zealand's third official language.

Derek Smith a sales consultant in his second year of learning sign says he "took up studying NZSL because of my inability to communicate with the many hearing impaired customers who I come into contact with at work. I can now confidently communicate with deaf people and find I get a great response."

When her youngest son Daniel, 10, developed hearing problems Karen Curtis started learning sign language.

"It is most likely his hearing will be OK as an adult but it is not completely guaranteed. We decided to learn sign language just in case. Learning it means we can be helpful to others and open different doors to the many deaf people. There are very few people who learn NZSL who don't have a genuine need to learn sign language."

After a close family member had an illness which caused her to lose her hearing, Tracey Lanfear started learning to sign.

"When she started going deaf she attended Jackie's classes and now teaches deaf children in Auckland. It was amazing to see how learning sign language re-opened her world. When she became ill it became a real eye opener for me as to how few people knew NZSL and yet it is officially our third language."

Susan Trembath has found her two NZSL courses invaluable. "These courses provide one of the only links to learn sign language within the Manawatu and its loss would be devastating. Not only would we be losing a wonderful educational and knowledgeable resource, but NZSL would, once again, become a seriously under-utilised communication tool."

Lisa and Steve Daly's 20-month-old daughter Harriet was diagnosed as deaf.

"The more we learnt about deafness and the deaf culture the more we thought about her identity as a deaf person," said Lisa.

"We thought – why not make it easier for her and make it part of her life from a young age? It will certainly not hurt us to bend to her a little as well, as we learn a new language.

"We will never be able to fully understand what being deaf is like for her. I want her to have access and a connection to people who do understand her and she can identify with."

Teacher, Kelly Rutherford has attended two NZSL classes.

"Te Reo Maori is compulsory in education now and as NZSL is our third language I believe people should be able to access and learn it easily."