'I feel included': How press briefings with New Zealand Sign Language are making a difference

Saturday, 19 September 2020

Having daily press briefings interpreted into New Zealand Sign Language included the Deaf community in the conversation.

For many people in the Deaf community, the coronavirus pandemic was the most they had ever seen their language on television.

But it’s meant more than simply accessing information – it includes the Deaf community in conversations.

Interpreters for New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL), one of the country’s official languages, pop up whenever there is a crisis or emergency, such as the Canterbury earthquakes or the Christchurch shootings.

But during alert level 4 lockdown, it was every day.

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* Deaf children need better access to New Zealand Sign Language to close the education gap

Wellington Deaf community member Joanne Becker said it wasn’t frequent to see NZSL interpretation on live TV – the first time she saw it was in the Canterbury earthquakes.

Wellington Deaf community member Joanne Becker said they didn’t often see other Deaf people every day.

“We can’t necessarily access our language on a regular everyday basis, so that was one constant thing we could rely on during that time,” she said.

Deaf Aotearoa executive board member Jake LaBerg said NZSL was always better than just providing captions, as some members of the Deaf community had low literacy levels.

“It was a stressful time and seeing them every day was quite soothing and it reduced anxiety, and we could feel better about what was happening.”

Deaf Aotearoa executive board member Jake LaBerg said it was critical the Deaf community received information at the same time as the rest of the country, particularly during a crisis.

Deaf Aotearoa executive assistant Erica Dawson said she had observed an “attitude change” in the public due to the visibility of NZSL at press briefings.

But it had also allowed him to participate in conversations where he previously could not.

“From being able to watch the interpreter on TV, particularly relating to politics, it gives me a greater idea of the concepts of what they’re talking about,” he said.

“And then when I go to another situation, for example at work … I can actually participate in that and I feel included. It has a far more positive impact than just accessing the information, it’s also my participation in society.”

Deaf Aotearoa gives a quick lesson on basic sign language greetings for New Zealand Sign Language Week. (First published September 2020.)

Deaf Aotearoa executive assistant Erica Dawson said she had not been interested in politics before press briefings included a NZSL interpretation.

“Then when they started bringing an interpreter along to the post Cabinet briefings on Mondays, it gave me access and it kind of surprised me and shocked me.”

She said it was important political parties made their information available in NZSL, particularly in the lead-up to the election.

Deaf Aotearoa general manager Victoria Manning said people were often surprised when they found out Sign Language was a language in its own right.

“It is not English in Sign Language, it does not follow English word order.”

So it wasn’t enough to provide captions, or simply direct the Deaf community to a website.

“If you put that information into English, it will be like a second language to some Deaf people,” Manning said.

Sign Language was also not international and NZSL was unique to Aotearoa.

Deaf Aotearoa was an organisation that represented the New Zealand Deaf community, and advocated for NZSL to be more widely accessible and respected.

Around 20,000 Kiwis could hold a conversation in NZSL, and it was the first or preferred language for 4500 people.

This year, NZSL week (September 21 – 27) coincided with the International Week of the Deaf. The UN International Day of Sign Languages was on September 23.

Deaf Aotearoa had a number of initiatives to celebrate the language. For the first time, the political leaders debate would be interpreted live into NZSL, with one interpreter for each of the three speakers (Jacinda Ardern, Judith Collins and the moderator).

Deaf Aotearoa had also partnered with TVNZ to produce a series of adverts with NZSL in the corner, to be broadcast throughout the week.

And for the second year, the Garage Project would roll out a new beer in collaboration with one of their Deaf employees.

The NZSL Challenge, in which government and business leaders learn and film a short video in Sign Language, was back in 2020, to be kicked off by Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield.

The organisation was also working with the Ministry of Education to provide a new online resource for school children, to support the learning of introductory NZSL in the classroom.