Hello. My name is Erin McCluskey. This is a Wee BSL Blethers video on role models.
You will see I have somebody with me. Could you introduce yourself please?
My name is Margaret McLean.
Marvellous! Do you have a sign name, Margaret?
Just MML.
I’ll call you this sign name today if that’s alright? Okay. So I am going to
interview Margaret about her childhood. Find out what it was like for her growing up,
getting her first job and so on. I’m really looking forward to finding out more.
Margaret, firstly, can I ask what it was like for you growing up?
Well I come from a Deaf family so BSL was used every day at home.
I only have a ran into issues outside of home, with hearing people.
It did make me a bit reluctant to mix.
So growing up things were pretty easy and comfortable in terms of accessible
communication, at home at least?
Easy, yes. Everybody signed every day within my family so there were no issues at all.
So your family were all Deaf then?
Yes.
Parents? Your siblings?
Yes, all Deaf.
And were you all close?
Yes, we were a close family I would say, because of BSL. I was closest to
my father because he would tell me a lot of stuff. I think he was my
role model growing up.
How lovely. Your dad was your role model.
Yes.
He encouraged and supported you growing up?
Yes.
Marvellous. And that’s a perfect link into what I want to ask you about next
because I want to talk about school. When you first went to school, what was it like?
I first went to a local school. One I could walk to from home. I think it was only about
five minutes away. My parents wanted me to go there so I was nearby.
They did not want to send me away to boarding school.
Unfortunately, the focus was very much on speaking and listening so my parents
eventually decided to send me to a school in Glasgow where they used sign language.
Makes sense. So your parents decided to remove you from that local school
because it did not suit you and they had to send you away.
Were you happy at your school in Glasgow?
It was okay. They used sign language there, but the teachers couldn’t really
sign very well. They would speak and throw in a few signs here in there, but not many.
And at that time I guess sign language was very much seen as undesirable, am I right?