Sign Language
From the collection of
From the collection of
Mark Peel was born completely deaf. His early education discouraged him from using sign language of any kind, often making him sit on his hands for hours at a time. He is now having to learn BSL as an adult.
Upon leaving his education, lucky with his speech through hard work and support from family, he thought he would become well integrated into the hearing community. However after a number of years he is still finding it hard to secure work and having difficulty mixing with hearing and deaf people.
Mark wishes he had been able to learn BSL as a child because he finds it harder communicating with deaf people now as a result. Mark recognises there is a shift in mood, emphasising that deaf children learn sign language at an early age, without any stigma of the past, and is encouraged by this.