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Brenda Devitt
My name is Brenda. I have a sister who is profoundly deaf and is a proficient BSL
user. I became really interested in sign language when I had to keep interpreting
for my sister and I could not sign! A lack of qualified interpreters made it difficult
for deaf people to have equality and accessibility to information and services.
It meant that they suffered and missed out on vital things. I decided to do something
about it and started to learn the language properly. |
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I have obtained BSL levels 1,2, NVQ 3 and 4 and a postgraduate Diploma in BSL/English Interpreting.
I am currently a freelance interpreter and work in a variety of settings. I have
taught BSL level 1 very successfully for a few years, with most of my classes having
a very high pass rate. One class obtained 100% pass rate! I have worked closely
with a deaf man helping him with his training as a teacher. He is now a successful
BSL teacher in Birmingham and one of our instructors along with his wife.
I have two children and yes I did teach them sign language! I did not have the fantastic
programme which is available to parents today. Nevertheless I used sign language
in everyday activities and both Naomi and Mikhail at a very early age were
communicating with me. I have to say to any parent that it gives you such a buzz and is
truly a satisfying experience not to be missed. When your child conveys to you,
through sign, what they want and need, it is amazing and so rewarding. I can honestly say
that I never had the ‘terrible twos’ period of behavioral problems that I see parents
go through with their children. At the time when I was teaching my daughter I was
not aware of any research and the benefits of signing to hearing babies. I did it
with my children and now I understand why it worked. That’s why I want to do these
classes and workshops because I am bursting to tell everyone the joy they can experience
with signing with their children.
I carried on teaching Naomi sign language. At the tender age of 13 she obtained
her level 1, at 16 she passed her level 2 and at 18 she was awarded her BSL NVQ 3 in
both receptive and production. Quite an achievement! Naomi currently works as a
Communicator for deaf students in London. She plans to take her level four and interpreters
level soon. Mikhail is 13 and he is a very good signer. It is nice to know that
signing with your babies does not have to stop once they can talk. They can
carry on learning the language and maybe serve the Deaf community in some way in
the future.
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