Music Performance and Songwriting student Catelyn Grundy, also known as Cate La Starza, is launching Speak For Sign, a campaign in aid of deaf awareness. Cate aims to officially launch the campaign later this year and has set up a Crowdfunder – if you’d like to show your support we recommend you check it out.
Speak For Sign aims to promote the importance of deaf awareness to those who work in environments with customer interaction such as cinemas, shops and venues.
“The importance of at least one member of staff in the workplace being trained to sign a basic conversation should be a requirement. Deafness could strike any one of us at any point in our lives (especially those, like myself, involved in the music industry), meaning sign language would become our primary method of communication.” Cate La Starza
Despite this, it’s not yet offered as a subject to learn in most schools and there’s little to no resources in customer service environments for staff. Stuff we take for granted can be very challenging for people who suffer from hearing loss. An example would be watching programmes On Demand which often offer no subtitled alternatives.
With enough funding and support, Speak For Sign’s pre-launch guarantee is:
– To provide easily accessible learning facilities for more people to teach basic sign language to anyone who may be faced with a deaf customer at work.
– To create printed material to paint towns RED with sign language.
– To generate enough attention from deaf societies, local businesses and individuals to put on a very effective launch.
With an effective launch, the hope is to then generate a campaign big enough to make sign language beginner lessons a mandatory requirement for at least one member of managerial staff in a working environment. Cate also hopes to campaign for an increase in the subject offering of sign language in UK-based schools.
If you’d like to help support Cate and this great cause, check out the Speak For Sign Crowdfunder page for more information on the campaign and how to donate. If you’d like to get involved you can go to the Facebook page or email speakforsign@gmail.com.
