Hi from Ireland

[RubyL]

Hi, my name is Alice and I’m a (currently unemployed) secondary school English teacher who is originally from west Wales. I’ve been living in Ireland for two years now and hadn’t really thought much about BSL. I knew that it was a good skill to have and that it might help in schools where there were hearing impaired students, but I honestly didn’t really think it was something that I would ever learn.

Then in January, my sister-in-law gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. Unfortunately his birth was a traumatic one and he was very poorly at the start of his life. He spent his first few weeks in hospital, but eventually pulled through and was deemed well enough to go home. However, as a result of his traumatic birth, he was diagnosed with moderate to severe deafness in one ear and moderate deafness in the other one. He does have some hearing, but the deaf team told my brother and his wife that they should learn BSL to help him. He has since been fitted with hearing aids, which have greatly enhanced his world.

Although I’m now in Ireland, I thought that as his auntie that I should also learn BSL, as it’s a fantastic skill to have and I’d love to be able to fully communicate with my nephew when he’s older. So, I signed up to the online BSL course and here I am. 👋🏽

Edited April 12, 2021 by RubyL
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