Introducing me

[MrsD271015]

Hi I'm Vicky 

I started learning Sign Language when I was in sixth form. Myself and a friend wanted to learn so managed to convince enough of our friends to tag along so that the local college would have enough people to start the level 1 course. I had always felt my hearing wasn't great and having friends that could sign in noisy environments meant I wasn't missing out. nearly 10 years later I would find out that my hearing wasn't really the problem on paper that is perfect but I had actually spent all my life living with Auditory Processing Disorder and there was nothing that could be done to make it better. I continued with sign language and gained my level 2 qualification. I personally feel all children should be taught sign language in schools. I have used it in many areas of my life: as a teenager to communicate with my friends when I struggled to hear in social situations (something which I struggled with when I moved away to uni as suddenly I didn't have that anymore), supporting customers in retail jobs, communicating with parents of children in my class who are deaf and more recently being able to communicate with the parents of one of my daughters friends both of whom are Deaf and use sign language. 

That said it has been many many years since I did my level 2 and not using it means you

lose it. Also I started learning in Wales and then continued in England. Regional variation is a very real thing and given some of the signs I have recapped so far on this course some have possibly changed overtime to be a bit more politically correct.

I am keen to revisit sign language in the hopes that this time I can keep it up. My daughter is 3 and she already knows quite a few signs and I would like to be able to give her this language along side the Welsh and English she already has. Language is part of your identity and I think sign language should be valued as such.