The silent language we should all be learning | Tom Massey | TEDxShaftesbury Youth
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1cZldnX4J8 Video ID: w1cZldnX4J8 ============================================================ [Applause] e now you probably didn't have a clue what I just said I could have been talking about my favorite snack which is definitely cinnemon rolls I could have been talking about this guy's shirts no offense or I could have been talking about the importance of communication we've been communicating since the dawn of time from Stone Age to present day and we do it every single day in many different life scenarios for example talking to a friend Morse code foreign languages and many more verbal and nonverbal but for sudden communication is not as free as maybe me you may find it they might struggle because they have a disability which means they can't communicate in a way what would be be deemed normal but sign language is a solution for this it'll break down the communication barriers that we have in our modern day world did you know that one in every six people in the UK are death or hard of hearing it's about 12 million people and I get it for some this might not directly affect you you might not know anyone who is deaf or hard of hearing so why should you learn sign language good question those that do use sign language may choose to use it as their primary source of community communication in the UK we have our own form of sign language called BSL which stands for British sign language and one in every 453 people choose to use that as their primary source of communication an additional 64,000 people have learned this not because they themselves suffer from a hearing difficulty but might have learned it for a family member for work for a friend or maybe for a hobby we never know the challenges that life may throw at us or when the ability to communicate using sign language could literally become a life changer for me and the rest of my family this happened when my cousin was born with Down Syndrome we're told her ability to communicate verbally might take a lot longer to master but she is a tremendously expressive and visual learner through learning sign language we realized that there a small act for us it has ultimately opened up the world for her enabling her to voice her delight and her frustrations Express herself as a person and make her feel a valued part of our family and our society about the ability to communicate verbally with anyone how would anyone in her position feel I suddenly realize how isol ating and lonely this must be how would you feel here's a 60c summary of BSL Through The Years BSL is the fourth most commonly spoken language in the UK and it's one of Scotland's main languages too unlike ASL BSL uses both hands not just one sorry ASL is American Sign Language British sign language is the main source of communication by the UK's non-verbal speaking population now you weren't expecting that were you British sign language to be the most common spoken sign language in the UK never although it's been sitting in the corner for so many years I'm glad it's gaining the respect it deserves from the younger generation we've been getting more involved in courses more communities that use this style of language getting more involved in political movement to help fight for this support from the government about a month ago in school we were watching a video on the Dorset youth Parliament as you've heard loads about today and two out the eight candidates made bringing signing into school their main campaign but I'm here to tell you that we need to do more actions speak louder than words to make a huge impact we need to make signing compuls for all starting in primary school and continuing on through secondary teacher training institutions should also take responsibility for helping their teachers learn sign language so that it becomes part of the teacher training syllabus and a newly qualified teacher training qualifications once these teachers are confident in BSL they can go on to teach it at other schools and teach their peers and the children no more communication barriers wouldn't that be great although the number of deaths or hard appearing people having to access Mental Health Services has significantly increased over the couple of years it's so significantly increased it's now overtaken the population of teenagers in the UK accessing these types of um Services these could be people from primary school age to people as old as my nan sorry Nan but on the serious side what could you do to make that person feel valued in society their only forms of communication was through sign language just because you can't hear them doesn't mean they don't have feelings now I know that's a really cringy thing to say but it's true and we all know it is people's views in where they fit in society plays a vital role in mental health and well-being maybe the reason that the death and heart of people are having to access these Services is because they're struggling to feel that sense of belonging now if we did learn sign language the benefits would be profound creating safer environments and places like places of worship cafes and schools and many more and maybe in the future job opportunities would open up as well you'll be able to collaborate with more people than you would have ever done before and talk to many more although a study has shown that 35% death for hard people are unemployeed compar to the 21% of the hearing population this is just another form of discrimination just think you yes yourself going for a job interview and getting denied because you can't communicate in a way that would be deemed normal I'm going to ask you again how would you feel isolated discriminated not being able to share your true Talent OR skills because you have a disability although in this situation we must ask ourselves are we the ones with a disability here because our communication skills are limited maybe we could adapt in the same way that they have we must understand that it's not just the death or hard of hearing that you sign language it could be people with Down Syndrome as we've explored with my cousin people with Cal pry autism and many more that struggle to communicate verbally we must remember that everyone has a right to have their voice heard in society just a simple hello how are you hey see what I did there could make an amazing start in improving mental health and well-being making them feel valued part of our society now to thank you for listening to my very boring talk today I'm hoping to teach you if that's right a bit of sign language just to say Thank you so if you could do it with me that would be amazing so you can do please and thank you please and thank you great stuff we're going to do the hello how are you can you do as well hello how are you you're doing amazing by the way and now we're going to do a sentence but it's going to be split into three small chunks we is this love is this and signing is this if you could put that together I think you know what it spells we love signing well done everyone give yourself a round of applause now unfortunately my speech does come to a close there it's been really fun but there's a message a message that needs to be heard by everyone from people in power to school children today if sign language was made accessible to everyone the benefits would be profound even for you although without we can not only achieve this without skillful communication techniques if we just adapt to this new style of learning we could work miracles I want to turn back on the bit that I signed at the start and its importance that it has on my speech but I know you'll really anticipated whether I was really talking about cinnamon rules so on that hello how are you my name's Tom you probably didn't know why I just said but hopefully by the end of my talk you'll be able to take away this quate by Jim ROM if we communicate we can get by but if we communicate skillfully we can work miracles [Applause]