My BSL journey

[Becage4]

I used to work in an SEMH children's home, 5 years ago, and I began to learn BSL alongside some of those young people. I then saw a BSL evening course at my local high school and took part in that, we did an introduction, then all nagged the tutor so much, she agreed to do Level 1! We got 2 weeks in when covid lockdown struck and the course, like everything else, was cancelled. 2 years ago I got together with my partner, who has hearing loss, which is progressing. We decided it would be a good idea to learn BSL now, while she can still hear a bit, so we are prepared. 2 of my adult children and their partners are learning alongside us. We post question and answer videos on our family WhatsApp to practice, our current quest is to see who can sign the most unlikely occupation and place to live! My partner already finds it very difficult to make out what people are saying in busy or noisy spaces, so the few signs we have learnt together, along with fingerspelling, have already been very helpful and we can all see how much this new skill will benefit all of us.