MY STORY

A place of belonging is important as it is a way of increasing meaningfulness in life, someone may be asking where does he/she belong to yet he/she is not a def and at the same time cant per-sieve sound. What do you say when introducing yourself,"I'm too hard of hearing to be considered part of the hearing world, but i'm not deaf enough to be considered part of the Deaf world" 

 

In some cases you find yourself in a family where your parents are deaf but you are able to produce sound and furthermore communicate with others. in this case where do this person belong to? This is what Nilsa Castro and Melissa (not her real name struggled) with for the early parts of their live, quite a coincidence that is same story from two different people from different continents. 

" I was born with a moderate bilateral high-frequency hearing loss.My mom is Deaf and according to my family,I had enough hearing to adapt to hearing world and attended a mainstream school. I struggled very much to hear my teachers or even my classmates and friends that my teachers begged my parents to buy me hearing aids,I experienced jokes,bullying and rejections of growing up of hard of hearing loss in a world where everyone can hear yet I did learn how to adapt to both the hearing and the deaf world. 

I learned to  read lips,decipher body language and find patterns in daily activities to predict conversations if am not wearing my hearing aids i pretend I can hear everything when I really don't,just to be part of the hearing world. The truth is I miss words and nod to inaudible conversations while smiling. Sometimes, I depend on other people to tell me what's going on.The truth is that I don't feel like I belong to the hearing world and at the same time I find it hard to fit in the Deaf world

MY PET MY VOICE

Pets are animal companions kept primarily for a persons company,compassion or entertainment. They are very faithful especially dogs, deafness does not just affect a person's hearing. It is an invisible disability that isolates people from others. It can cause a huge blow to a person's confidence,depression and can take away a person's independence.
Many deaf people often feel extremely vulnerable in a range of situations where sounds are relied on to provide essential information it could be public announcements in airports or stations to crucial dangers sounds like fire alarms.

For a lot of deaf people, night -time can be terrifying because one is required to take out all hearing aids before you sleep and for many deaf people who would usually hear some sounds are transferred to a totally silent world. Unable to hear footsteps,outside sounds or even potential safety signals fire alarms or calling sounds means falling asleep can be very difficult for hearing impaired person most especially children.





The best way to tackle this and also to help our child be comfortable at night when going to sleep,reduce loneliness and even get you out of depression is by looking for a pet and not just any pet a dog, a puppy to be precise, get it trained to understand languages including sign language in an official institution and it will help you in what you need.


Dogs are called mans best friend not only because of their faithfulness but also because they learn very fast and they can also relate to our feelings-they understand us very well. A simple instruction like lye down,sit or roll over can pave great way for both the dog and you to learn and per-sieve sign language for the dog. It is also important to learn how to train your dog by yourself to increase your bonding and friendship. 

WE ALWAYS SAY HELP THE NEEDY

Who is a needy? Helping people means showing them that their is someone who cares for them and also for their needs without showing selfishness. Helping is important because it helps you feel good about yourself because it will make you seem like a better person and make others have a better outlook of you, it takes a lot of energy to  make someone else feel bad and in the end you only feel good for a while but when you make someone else happy I bet you also feel happy and the feeling lasts for long at times even a life time RIGHT?



This is a good way of thinking especially when addressing the issues of bullying,prejudice and discrimination. have you ever tried helping a deaf even by giving directions? It can get tiring quickly when you are intentionally forcing people to hate/discriminate someone just to fulfill you desire.
Instead, treating others with empathy is the best way of gaining respect from your peers. Offer a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on or words of advice. This is how to build a healthy relationship that is founded on mutual trust rather than conflict, at times taking care of your friends hearing aids most especially if it is a child who only thinks of playing with his friends can make the situation more comfortable to both the victim and his family. For a parent to take care of the child he/she will need help and buying even the smallest part of the hearing aid is quite expensive and discouraging if whatever you bought with so much effort gets destroyed within weeks.

 help make a child's life comfortable

Did you know: With our words and actions,we have the ability to both harm and help others

SHOWCASING MY TALENTS

A talent is an ability or a skill that someone is born with and it give the person a chance to perform a task they like and though at times it is hard they still manage to do it very well. Some people usually take advantage of the deaf who wants to show their talents simply because they find it hard to express themselves through their voice.

 When their is a team it is always easy to mobilize others and make your voices to be heard even if it is through demonstrations but the best way is through performing the best in what you wanted by showcasing your talents a good example is with this set of boys who did a fundraising through playing football and organizing for deaf football championships in their community. Keeping in mind football is their talent and it is what made them escape depression,bad company and maintain their high spirits   

Having our family and friends to keep you company and giving you advice whatever given time is always the best thing one could eve have. Through her friends and her determination one girl who was scared of admitting or accepting the fact that she could no-longer have the ability to hear still managed to pass all the odds to an extent of competing for miss tourism which she confesses it was her life long desire as modeling is her talent. 

TELEVISING MY EMOTIONS

Emotion is the one thing that everyone is entitled to at any moment or time of the day as it is part of the mental state associated with the nervous system. KSL has its own way of advertising its emotions but for the emotions to pass the message intended for, facial expressions must be correct as a sign of emphasis as well as to help get the attention of the signee. Today we will be learning how to sign our emotions. 

 Have you learnt anything from our topic for today? you can know express our emotions in KSL you can practice by watching the video above

ALWAYS KEEP IN MIND

Putting  into  consideration  what  we  said  or  rather  talked  about  on  our  previous blogs,  before  starting  a  conversation  with  a  Deaf  person  you  have  to  make  sure  that  you  know  how  the  sign  example,"love"  is  signed  because  for  one  wrong  sign  or  even  the  movement  can  mean  something  else.  Example  when  signing  love,  you  use  hands  cutting  across  each  other  with  either  "A"  hand shape  or  clenched  fist  resting  on  the middle of your chest "wakanda" while  on  the  other  hand  if  you  use  open  palm  the  same  way  it  will  mean  friend.

keep in mind that sign language differs from country to country and it has a different meaning everywhere, in ASL they sign friend using their index fingers to show they will never be apart but in KSL if vertically placed it means umbilical cord for the attachment of the mother to the fetus.

friend in KSL

TODAY,,, IS MY FAVORITE DAY......

How do you identify your favorite day? Well you can only do that ones you know all the days of the week. Today we will do a practice in identifying and signing the seven days of the week courtesy of the deaf community.

When sign the days of the week you should be clear with your signing as even a wrong articulation can mean something different, example 'Thursday' if you sign while holding your elbow it will mean flag,while holding your wrist it will mean fish and at the middle it will mean Thursday the deaf don't just come up with signs and look for a significant name they always sit down and research about it before coming up with a word that relates with the subject and they also refer to what their hearing peers call the subject

DID YOU KNOW: THE DEAF HAVE THEIR POLICY ACT

THE FLAWLESS INTRODUCTION

The first impression that you have of a person will have an impact in your life in one way or the other so while interacting with a deaf, it is important to introduce yourself polity and confidently. The only way to make a perfect introduction is to remain calm and steady while signing out your name.

It is also important to finger spell your name if you don't have a sign name and the deaf are the only-ones who can assign you a sign name and most of the time they do so depending on the features of our body.

Here is a well constructed conversation based on greetings.

courtesy of Deaf Media of Kenya

 N/B: KEEP IN MIND THAT YOU CAN ONLY HAVE A SIGN NAME GIVEN BY THE DEAF.   

STUNNING REASONS FOR USING SIGN LANGUAGE

 Sign language can be used where the spoken word is physically difficult or impossible such as talking through the window or even talking in water. sign language can also let you talk with someone without interrupting others with noise.

For the sake of children,they can acquire sign language the same way they acquire spoken language. The muscles in a baby's hand develop faster than their mouths so signing can be a better options for  early communication especially if the child still can't speak and the best part is that many schools have started including sign language as a subject in their schools.

 

It is easier to have a private conversation in public by using sign language though it's a little difficult it works well if the conversation cannot be seen by someone who knows sign language. It is also a great way of gossiping or passing a confidential information  

ETIQUETTE

The politeness and configuration of a person always differs, depending on how you were raised or the environment you are in, etiquette is important as it provides personal security,protects other peoples feelings and it makes a situation comfortable. The five most important etiquette's to keep in mind are; please, sorry, thank you, welcome and may I.

The minute you learn how to sign the etiquette you will be able to bounce back from from the mistake cause no matter how careful we are it is always impossible to make a flawless communication and etiquette also helps us to focus on the bottom line as well as being productive.

AS EASY AS A.B.C

 As  much  as  it  is  important  to  have  a conversation  for  the  effectiveness  of  communication  when  talking  to  a  Deaf  who  is  learned  or  knows  a  little  bit  of  language  in  that  he/she  was  not  born  with  the  deafness  you  really  don't  have  to  construct  the  sentence  from  the  beginning  though  we  talked  about  signed English  and  signed  exact  English,  these  were  more  for  the  purpose  of  learning  and  understanding  sign  language  grammar,  so  when  talking  to  a  Deaf  use  the  KSL  style  as  it  is  more  of  a  shortcut  depending  on  the  Deaf  as  they  refer  to  it  as  their  Swahili.

sign exact English

signed English 

In KSL you just sign 'you how' to make your sentence complete. 

Easy right!!?? just like ABC

THAT GREAT FEELING

How do you feel when you acquire what you've been longing for, for such a long time? some may not take it as interesting as it should be due to excitement or that non believing mind,you when you already put it in your imagination sometimes it becomes difficult to place it back into your reality.

courtesy of citizen TV

The same thing is happening in the world of the deaf as some Deaf including Peter Ruto could not believe the fact that they can participate in athletics and furthermore, contest for the Deaf African Athletics.

ELEMENTS OF A SIGN

Elements  of  a  sign  and  their  relationship  to  meaning

A  sign  consists  of  four  main  elements  (parameters)  The  following  are  the  elements  that  make  up  a  sign.

1. Hand  shape
2. Place  of  articulation
3. Orientation
4. Movement

Hand  shape
Different  signs  will  depend  on  the  hand  shape  as  some hand  shape will sign  the  subject  directly
 
KSL  has  different  hand  shapes and  some  include;

Open palm                        Extended index finger 

"C" hand shape

 Clenched fist

 "A" hand shape 

COMPOSITION OF A SIGN

There  are  four  main  descriptive  formats  that  make  up  the  composition  of  a sign.  These  include;

• Pre - manual  skills

 These  are  skills  that  make  the  prime  mortar (hands)  to  be  flexible.examples;  visual  memories.

• Manual  skills- there  are  two  types  of  manual  skills.

• Respective  manual  skills

These  skills  we  use  to  read  and  understand  information  given  in  sign  language.
This  skills  involve  the  ability  to  attend  to  the  sign  made  and  interpret  the  meaning  as  used  in  the  context
The  recipient  of  the  sign  message  is  expected  to  read  meanings   carried  by  the  hands,  facial  expressions  and  body  language/posture  at  the  same  time.

• Expressive  manual  skills

The  skills  used  for  expressing  ourselves.
They  require  flexibility  in  using  one's  hands,  facial  expression  and  body  language.
They  also  involve  purposeful  use  of  signs  to  give  an  solicit  for  information,  express  feelings  and  emotions

• Non-manual  features

These  are  features  used  to  accompany  signs.
They  include;
Facial  expressions,  Eyebrow  movements,  Head  movements,  Body,  Lip  and  Eye  movements

 

SPEECH READING/LIP READING

SPEECH  READING  AND  NATURAL  SIGNS

Speech  reading  is  the  ability  to  per-sieve  speech  by  watching  the  movement  of  a   speakers  mouth  and  by  observing  all  other  visual  clues  including  visual  expression  and  gestures.  when  communicating  with  a  person  with  hearing  impairment  who  depends  on  speech  and  lip  reading  there  are  rules  you  should  observe;

1. Maintain  eye  contact  when  talking  to  the  person
2. Always  face  the  source  of  light
3. Do  not  talk  while  the  face  is  turned  away
4. Speak  more  deliberately  and  slower  than  usual
5. Keep  your  face  at  the  same  level  with  the  person
6. Do  not  be  more  than  2  meters  away  from  the  person
7. Do  not  cover  your  mouth  while  speaking
8. Speak  naturally  without  exaggerating  lip  movement  

Natural  signs  are  the  natural  signs  we  always  use  to  communicate

TOTAL COMMUNICATION

At  times  it  is  also  hard  to  communicate  with  an  illiterate  person  who  is  deaf.  It  is  so  hard  especially  when  the  two  are  of  different  age  groups  and  are  of  different  levels  of  education. In  this  case  using  the  sign  systems  is  hard  and  therefore  it  is  advisable  to  use  total  communication.

Total  communication  is  an  approach  that  uses  a  variety  of  methods  such  as  gestures,  signs,  drawings,  facial  expressions, body  language,  speech  reading/lip  reading,  pantomime,  braille,  pointing,  natural  signs,  bliss  symbols,  cued  speech,  eye  contact,  amplifications, pictograms, mimics  e.t.c

Pantomime- A  sequence  of  events  described  though  the  use  of  gestures, body  language  and  facial  expressions  without  speech  and  signs.

Cued speech- This  is  an  oral  method  which  uses  a  set  of  hand  cues  with  speech.  The  hand  cues  are  used  near  the  mouth  to  overcome  the  problem  of  lip  reading,  where  some  sounds  are  identical  or  the  impossible  to  see.  When  lip  reading  many  words  look  alike  on  the  lips  they  have  the  same  lip  shape  and  movement  example;  Tip and  Dip                                                                                                                                                                                             

IMPORTANCE OF KSL AND SIGN SYSTEMS

IMPORTANCE OF KSL

In  academics, If  a  hearing  impaired  person  has  a  strong  foundation  in  KSL  his/her  ability  to  develop  English  literacy  skills  improves.  Mastering  in  a  language  and  specifically  in  KSL  yields  many  benefits;

• It  assists  people  to  communicate  among  the  deaf
• It  leads  to  creation  of  job  opportunities  example; teachers  and  interpreter.
• Leads  to  greater  self- esteem  and  curiosity  of  the  world  both  of  which  will  enrich  him/her  academically  and  socially.
• Enhances  social  interactions  

IMPORTANCE  OF  SIGN  SYSTEMS

• Helps  the  persons  with  hearing  impaired  to  understand  English  grammar.
• It  bridges  the  gap  between  spoken  word,signs  and  the  written  word
• They  help  increase  awareness  of  the  spoken  sound  in  spoken  word
• Helps  to  understand  or  learn  other  subjects  and  concepts

It  is  very  important  to  know  the  importance  of  whatever  you  are  studying  and  how  you  can  use  it  to  positively  influence  others  in  doing  the  same

THE SIGN SYSTEMS

It  is  difficult  to  perform  any  task  without  getting  informed  on  how  it  is  done  or  acquiring  any  form  of  knowledge  on  how  to  perform  the  task.  Therefore, for  an  individual  to  be  able  to  communicate  well with  an impaired  person,  he  or  she  should  consider  using  the  different  sign  systems.

Signed  English.

In  signed  English,  every  word  of  a  spoken  sentence  is  signed. It  uses  English  language  grammar  and  the  grammar  of  deaf  sign  languages.This  system  comprises  of  a vocabulary  of  borrowed  and  made  up  signs  and  finger-spelling  and  was  developed  by teachers  of  the  deaf.

Signed  Exact  English.

This  systems  involves  using/signing  also  the  punctuation.  It  strives  to  be  an  exact  representation  of  English  vocabulary  and  grammar.  though  it  is  tiresome  and  a  long  process  to  communicate  with,  it  is  very  effective  in  grammar.  It  also  involves  using  tenses  to  give  a  clear  and  complete  visual  representation  of  English  for  educational  purposes.

Finger  Spelling.

It  is  the  most  commonly  used  sign  system.  If  a  person  does  not  know  how  to  sign  a  word,when  finger  spelt  depending  on  whether  it  is  100  or  200  manual  alphabet  he/she  will  be  able  to  be  understood  and  given  the  correct  signing  of  the  word.
(Remember  to  check  the  previous  blogs  to  understand  what  is  meant  by  the  100  or  200  manual  alphabets.)

Sign  supported  English

It  bares  no  resemblance  to  the  main  spoken  language  in  the  country  in  which  it  is  used.  This  system  takes  the  signs  and  uses  them  in  order  that  the  word  would  be  spoken  in  English.


 

THE ORIGIN AND SPREAD OF KENYAN SIGN LANGUAGE

 How  did  the  Kenyan  sign  language  emerge  and  spread

Sign  language  used  by  the  hearing  impaired  people  in  Kenya  is  probably  as  old  as  their history.  However,  documented  use  of  the  sign  language can  be  traced  to  1958  and  the  early  60's  when  the  first  schools  and  units  for  the  deaf  were  established.  Although  the  official policy  then  advocated  for  the  use  of  speech  reading,  the  learners  the  deaf  learners  used  KSL among  themselves  both  in  class  and  other  context.

In  1987,  Dr  Michael  Ndurumo,  a graduate  of  Gallaudet  University  came  to  Kenya  and  strongly  advocated  for  the  use  of  sign  language, sign  English  and  sign  exact  English  in  the  education  of  hearing  impaired  in  Kenya.  A  research  conducted  in  1986  in  schools  for  the  deaf  revealed  that  the  use  of  sign  language  was  a  better  means  of  communication  compared  to  the  oral  means  of  communication,  an  action  that  led  to  the  development  of  the  first  draft  of  KSL for  schools  by  Kenya Institute  of  Education  (KIE)  know  Kenya  Institute  of  Curriculum  Development  (KICD).

 In  1986  Machakos  school  for  the  deaf  was  started  as  a  pilot  school  for  total  communication. In  1988,  the  government  introduced  the  use  of  KSL  and  sign  systems  in  all  schools  and  units  for  the  deaf  in  Kenya  under  the  philosophy   of  total  communication  through  the  influence  of  Kenya  Institute  of  Special  Education (KISE), (KIE)  and  many  others

Dr  Michael  is  a  great  influencer  and  the  right  example  of  disability  is  not  inability. His  life  is  a  journey  showing  strength  and  signs  of  never  giving  up. KUDOS  DR MICHAEL 

DID  YOU  KNOW:  DR.  MICHAEL  NDURUMO  IS  DEAF  BUT  A  RENOWNED  PROFESSOR  IN  UoN.

ORIGIN AND SPREAD OF SIGN LANGUAGE

 From  earlier  recorded  histories,  gestures  have  been  used  for  communication  between  groups of  different  languages  and  cultures.  The  use  of  formalized  language  of  signs  however  has  been  gradual  until  the  first  attempt  to  educate  deaf  people  were  made.  The  two  main  founders  of  sign  language   are;

Juan  Pablo  Bonet
He  was   a  Spanish  priest  and  a  pioneer  of  deaf  education.  The  first  book  of  manual  alphabet  was  published  by  Juan  Pablo  in  1620  in  Madrid.  This  was  considered  the  first  treatise  of  the  phonetics  of  sign  language  and  the  use  of  sign  language  to  teach  speech  to  the  deaf. His  system  of  sign  and  manual  alphabets  was  influenced  by  different  sign  languages  such  as; Spanish  sign  language,
French  sign  language  and American  sign  language




Juan  Pablo  bonet







Abee' Charles - Michele De L'E'pee
The  public education  of  the  hearing  impaired  using  sign  language  began  in  France.  Abee'  was  born  on  24th  November  1712  in  Versailles,  Yvellines  in  France.  he  devoted most  of  his  life  to  developing  the  worlds  first  sign  alphabet  for  the  deaf  and  he  is  also  credited  with  creating  a  systematic  method  of  teaching  the  person  with  hearing  impairment.

His  manual  alphabet  which  he  called  french  sign  language  was  adapted  into  American  sign language  a  few  decades  after  his  death.  In  1755  he  founded  the  first  public  school  for  the deaf
Abee'  refined  and  developed  the  language  of  signs  into  a  full  language  from  which  the  present  day  languages  are  derived.

This  action  of  inventing  and  emphasizing  on  the  usage  of   sign  language  has  made  communication  to  be  more  effective.  Nowadays   the  rate  of  discrimination  and  indifference  has  reduced, sign  inventors  are  now  emerging  due  to  the  inspiration  that  they  get  from  this  two  wonderful  people  an  act  that  has  made  people  to  greatly  accept  that  disability  is  part  of  our  day  to  day  life  and  we  should  see  it as  a  normal  thing.

CAUSES  OF HEARING LOSS

Everything  in  life has  its  own  causes  and  effects  irregardless  of  what  it  is, even  medicine. Similarly  hearing  loss  as  it  is  different  from  deafness,  it has  its  own  causes, every  type  of  hearing  loss  depending  on how  it  was  acquired  has  its  causes  bu t the  most  common  ones  are;  exposure  to  loud  noise,  infections, birth  defects  and  genetics

Some  of  the  causes  include;

•  Reaction  to  drugs
• Viral  infections-mumps  and  measles
• Chicken  pox
  
• Cytomegalovirus
• Meningitis
• Diabetes
• Sickle  cell  diseases
• Otatoxic-medications  that damage  hearing
• Some  cancers, chemotherapy  and  drugs  used  for  cancer  treatment
• Syphilis 
• Lyme  diseases
• Treatment  of  tuberculosis
• Arthritis

and  many  many  more

hearing  is  very  important  as  it  assists  in  body  balancing, when  one  of  these  causes  interfere  with  your  eardrums/hearing  capacity  there  is  a  high  chance  that  it  will  give  way  to  more  diseases  so  its  very  very  important  to  take  care  of your  ears  even  when  taking  a  bath.  As  much  as  cleanliness  is  important  too  much  water  in  the  ear  can  cause  Deafness

DID YOU KNOW: THIS  CONDITION  CANT  BE  CURED,  IT  CAN  ONLY  BE  TREATED  TO  REDUCE  THE  SPREAD  AND  SEVERE  EFFECT.

HOW TO IDENTIFY A DEAF PERSON

 IDENTIFYING  AND  COMMUNICATING  WITH  A  DEAF  PERSON

When  a  baby  is  born  he/she  is  expected  to  respond  to  the  surroundings  in  the  first  hours  of   his/her  time  on  earth.  This  way  the  baby  is  able  to  talk  at  the  age  of  2 -3  years. In  this  case   the   baby   is  "normal"  in  that  he/she  doesn't  suffer  from  disability.  How  would  a  parent  know that  the  child  is  suffering  from  deafness  or  hearing  loss?

If  the  child  does  not  immediately  respond  to  sound, example; when  the  child  is  asleep  and  something/someone  makes  noise  like  a  spoon  falling,  the  expected  result  is  that  the  child  will  be  startled and  wake-up  crying  but  what  if   the  child  does  not  respond  to  the  loud  sound  immediately  or  non  at  all?

 Parents  should  be  able  to  identify  some  signs  of  hearing  loss,  this way  it  may  help  prevent  deafness.  Therefore  the  earlier the   hearing  loss occurs  in  a  child  the  more  serious  the  effects  on  the   child's  development.  Similarly, the  earlier  the  problem  is  identified  and  intervention  begun, the  less  serious  the  overall  effect.

An ear of a deaf man

Deafness  is  the  third  most  common  disability  worldwide  but  it  usually  goes  unnoticed  because  it  is  known  as  invisible  disability, unlike  other  disabilities;  example  blindness  which  is  widely  portrayed ,it  is  unnoticeable  to  the  naked  eye.  Therefore,  when  you  come  across  someone  whom  you have  never  seen  before  or  you  suspect  might  be  deaf; there  are  some steps that should  be  followed  before  starting  a  conversation;

• Get  their  attention  before  speaking  this  way  it  will  be  clear  if  he/she  can  hear  you,  if no  then  make  yourself  visible  to  them
• Introduce  yourself  and  ask  how  they  prefer  to  communicate 

It  is  important  for  parents  to  keep  an  eye  on  their  children 

N/B: DO NOT ASK WHETHER HE/SHE IS DEAF.

TYPES OF MANUAL ALPHABETS

Sign  language  is  a  system  of  communication using  visual  gestures  and  signs  as  used  by  the  deaf  people.  It  is  a  language  that  uses  the  visual  manual  modernity  to  convey  meaning.  Each  country  has  its  own  sign  language, in  Kenya  we  use  the  Kenyan  sign  language  (KSL)  it  uses  manual  symbols  to  represent  ideas  and  concepts  among  the  deaf  community.

Different countries  uses  different  methods/ways  to  communicate  with  the  deaf  but  the  most  commonly  used  methods  worldwide  are; finger  spelling, signs  and  total  communication  (TC).  Finger  spelling  is  also  called  manual  alphabet.  It  is  a  representation  of  the  letters  of  the  alphabet.  Each  letter  of  the  alphabet  is  represented  by  its  own  sign.  There  are  two  types  of  manual alphabets, the 100 manual alphabet-1 hand and the 200 manual alphabet-2 hand.Countries like; Kenya, USA, Singapore  uses  the  1  hand  alphabet  while  England, New Zealand, British  and  Australia  uses  the  2  hand  alphabet.  Some  countries  like  South  Africa  uses  both.
Examples  of  1  hand  and  2  hand  respectively;

FACTS ABOUT DEAFNESS 

Communication  is  very  important  as  it  affects  most  aspect  of  human  interaction, it  is  through  communication  that  people  relay  messages  to  other  people  and  communication  is  used many  times  to  bridge  the  gap  between  different  cultures  and  other  identities; example  countries.  It  is  through  communication  that  our  own  bodies  can  relate, coordinate  and  function  on  their  own  which  further  enables  us  to  do  our  day  to  day  routine.

As  we  all  know,  God  created  everyone  in  his  own  image  and  likeness.  Some  have  all  the  five  senses  of   the  organ  and  are  regarded  as  "normal"  with  lack  of  these  senses  or  even  lose  of  one sense  expressing  one's  self  becomes  difficult, communicating  with  others  is  a  huge  dilemma  or  just  being  "normal"  is  difficult  situation. 

These  people  are  termed  to  be  suffering  from  disability.  Hearing  loss  is  one  of  the  disabilities, it  could  be  partial  or  total  reduction, some  are  born  with  deafness  while  others  acquire  them,  at  time  one  may  be  born/acquire  deafness  but  he/she  has  the  ability  to  hear  even  a  small  pinch  of  sound  they  are  referred  to  as  hard-off  hearing;  by  learning  how  to  communicate  with  the  persons  with  hearing  impairment  we  will;

• Help  increase  awareness
• Reduce  discrimination
• Increase  socialization
• Increase  the  knowledge  of  their  language
• Boost  their  self  confidence

DID YOU KNOW: When  one  loses  one  of  his/her  senses the  rest  are  very  active  and  extremely  sensitive?

  

WELCOME TO MERCY AIDY

The  blog  is  all  about  learning  how  to  communicate  with   the  deaf  and  other  physically  challenged  people.