Members of GHITA held a rally outside No.6 Convent Place yesterday where the Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, met them and learnt of their concerns via a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter.
One of the main issues discussed was the fact that for many people, BSL is their primary language.
Subtitles on TV screens, for example, were not the answer in ensuring inclusivity, because for them, English was a second language.
Speaking after the Chief Minister returned to his office, the Chair of GHITA, Edgar Triay, said Mr Picardo had been very approachable.
“You could tell that he has been listening carefully,” he said.
“He asked very good questions and he showed some misunderstanding on what is the difference between BSL and Makaton, as he thought sign language was being taught in schools via Makaton.”
Makaton is a teaching tool for teachers to teach English to children with a learning difficulty or who are non-verbal. It is a visual aid.
“It is a tool but the signs in that tool are limited, there are about 100 or so,” Mr Triay said.
“But in sign language, it has its own grammar and thousands of different signs, to the extent that there are actual colloquial differences.”
“There might be a dialect in the South of England that is different to the North of England and that gives it character because the signers can tell where that person comes from, like an accent does.”
The rally took place for two reasons.
Firstly, to remind Gibraltar that whenever they see campaigns in the UK for various types of BSL help, that the Rock is no different.
“We have a small community here of BSL users who want the same and not to be different,” said Mr Triay.
The second reason is to show people in the UK that Gibraltar and Great Britain are joined by BSL as well as their nationality.
The group wants changes to existing disability legislation.
“At the moment the Disability Act recognised that BSL should be used for someone who is deaf and is recommended to communicate with that someone, be it via an organisation or department within Government,” said Mr Triay.
“But, there is no law saying that it has to be BSL for Gibraltar, but that is the language that is being used in Gibraltar.”
“And, there is no obligation for the Government or Government organisations in every official communique to have that same information available in sign language in real time.”
“There is no point for Government to give an important communique in full for the hearing and then and for the not hearing to read about it three or four hours later.”
“In a language which is not their first language,” he added.
GHITA wants …….
Source: https://www.chronicle.gi/rally-highlights-crucial-role-of-british-sign-language/