SUMMARY OF WRITTEN SUBMISSION FROM BRITISH DEAF ASSOCIATION
(NORTHERN IRELAND) – Sign Language Bill
The Northern Ireland Assembly is debating the Sign Language Bill.
To help them do this, its Communities Committee asked for feedback from any
person or group – either via video on WhatsApp or in writing.
The BDA (NI) submitted a written response and this is a summary of
what that included.
BDA fully agrees with the proposed new law with one exception (more on that later).
However, we are calling for the Bill to go even further and will give more details below.
1) Do you feel Clause 1 goes far enough in formally recognising BSL and ISL as
languages of Northern Ireland?
BDA believes yes Clause 1 of the Bill is strong enough. The Bill will give Sign Language
the same rights as other spoken languages such as Irish and Ulster Scots while not
affecting or impacting other important laws that might apply to an individual -
such as the Disability Discrimination Act or Human Rights Acts.
The Act will also bring NI in line with other parts of the UK where Sign Language
is already given equal status.
2) Do you feel Clause 2 goes far enough in promoting the use of BSL and ISL and
developing deaf culture?
BDA welcomes the approach of viewing signing not as a disability issue but a
linguistic minority matter. However, we notice that decisions
are often made in relation to deaf services or sign language services without meaningful
deaf input. We want to see a more robust way of including Deaf signers in
the process of planning, delivering and evaluating. We want to see a commitment
to invest in developing Deaf leadership in these areas.
We also welcome the proposal that sign language classes for families with
Deaf children will become a statutory provision.
BDA advised on the need for Deaf signers to be able to use technological advances,
in the same way VRS became crucial during the Covid pandemic and increased
use of BSL/ISL in the media and schools. We also repeated the important of
Deaf signers being involved and leading at all stages of the introduction of these
new ways of working.
We also said the Department for Communities should support members
of the deaf community to develop their skills and capacities towards taking
leadership roles in designing and delivering policies to implement
access to sign language.