Parents and civil servants learn sign language

(KPL) There is a need to reduce the communication gap between the deaf and those who are not and the sign language acts as the medium that makes it possible for them to communicate.

Thirty students from the government sector and parents with deaf offspring studied the sign language at the No 9 Chanthaboury secondary school from 1 to 26 February.

The training course was organised by the Lao Disabled People’s Association and SDR and HRF gave monetary support. The objective was to get state employees to be knowledgeable on the sign language so that they could communicate with the deaf on matters connected with their work.

The sign language is also important for parents so that they could communicate with any deaf family member. “The teaching of the sign language is difficult for me at first because we are conscious of only one world but I found that we could link it with another world and make sentences with signs,” said Mr Ketkeo Sorphapmixai, the sign language teacher of this class. He also said that during the 26-day training course on sign language, the students were divided into two sections, the civil servants and parents with deaf children.

The civil servants were in the fast track class because they were fast learners but the parents with deaf children learnt at a slower pace.

As the deaf people cannot hear and so at times they cannot understand what I am teaching and so I use pictures to explain, said the sign language teacher. Some parents who had deaf children said that learning the sign language was important, because in the past they had difficulty in communicating with their deaf offspring.

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