Cardiff Deaf Creative Hands at Cardiff Deaf Club will be officially opened this Saturday 18th of February, by The Rt. Hom. The Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Clir Monica Walesh and Children’s Commissioner Sally Holland.
Cardiff Deaf Creative Hands is a promising new community that is starting to grow in Cardiff, representing the bridge that has been built between the Deaf community and hearing parents with deaf children.
Being a first for Cardiff, people are positive that it will grow from strength to strength, with the innovative project launching in partnership with Campaign Team Family Sign and the support of Cardiff Deaf Centre.
Hearing families with deaf children in Cardiff will now have a centre that will provide access to positive deaf role models, a place where hearing and deaf communities can mix and gain support and a place where they are able to learn British sign language together as a family.
The group has been built with respect for the Deaf community and the belief and understanding that their language BSL (British Sign Language) is essential to their positive Deaf identity. The framework, vision and belief of Cardiff Deaf Creative Hands has been built with the love and dedication of parents with Deaf children who want their children to be bilingual and have access to the resources to make that happen.
Studies have shown that children who learn BSL at a young age are more likely to attend university and do better in school. They have a human right to be taught in their first language.
90% of deaf children are born to hearing parents. Many of these parents want to learn BSL to communicate with their children but this is not provided free to them.
The language centre of the brain is sponge like between 0 and 5 and this development time is essential for all children and for a deaf child things are no different.
Cardiff Deaf Creative Hands was Stuart Parkinson’s dream, he wanted to bring the two communities together so families can access BSL. Stuart is Deaf himself and he offers the families an excellent role model as someone who has overcome adversity and barriers his whole life.
The Family Sign team are the campaign developers, whom with the incredible support of the Deaf community and Cardiff Deaf Centre have achieved so much already without any funding what so ever.
Family Sign and Cardiff Deaf Creative Hands have reached out to families, other agencies and organisations to get this project and community programme off the ground.
The Cardiff Audiology department, the Cochlear Implant team and the Cardiff teachers of the Deaf are all supporting them to grow the community group.
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