I'm deaf, but we can still talk | Rebekah Afari | TEDxExeter
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- čas přidán 31. 05. 2024
- How can we break down the barriers that hold deaf people back? In a powerful talk signed in British Sign Language and voiced over by Omoyele Thomas, Rebekah Afari shares her experience of growing up deaf in a world created for hearing people and calls on us all to tear down the barriers to inclusion together and make her dream of equal opportunities for deaf and hearing people a reality.
At TEDxExeter 2018 we focussed on making connections - and building bridges. Our speakers challenged us to reflect on how, in this interconnected, interdependent world, global issues affect all of our lives, and our actions affect others. In these turbulent times of shock political outcomes, “fake news”, data breaches, war, mass migration, rapid technological progress and climate change we believe that ideas have the power to change attitudes, lives, and ultimately, the world.
TEDxExeter Curator - Claire Kennedy @clairekennedy__ - tedxexeter.com
Production Manager - Andy Robertson @geekdadgamer - / familygamertv
Film & Livestream - First Sight Media @firstsightmedia - firstsightmedia.co.uk/
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Rebekah Afari was born profoundly deaf and comes from a hearing family. Her first language is British Sign Language. Rebekah is passionate about deaf issues, having faced many challenges herself, and hopes to increase awareness of the barriers deaf people face, aspiring for equality in a hearing world. During her early teens, she was a member of the youth advisory board of the National Deaf Children’s Society. She is currently seeking employment, having recently completed a BTEC level 3 media course in Exeter, where she was the only deaf student on her course. Rebekah enjoys a variety of sports, cooking, reading novels and filmmaking. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx
To the video editor: PLEASE don't cut away from someone who is signing. Imagine how fustrating this would be to watch for a deaf person. It would be like the a hearing person trying to listen to a video where the sound randomly and repeatedly cut out. It's particularly egregoious because this talk is about the need to make the world more accesable to deaf people!!
Exactly!!! That annoyed me so much
Incredible blunder...
at least there are subs tho
@@Katie-zf4zz we’re language deprived; we need sign language to it’s fullest extent.
@@Katie-zf4zz Better than nothing but not the same.
Thank you for your lovely comments! It is very encouraging :-)
You are welcome to share it as well!
Thank you for being our voice !
You are amazing! I was also on the YAB in 2014-16 so we have something in common :)
how do you communicate in darkness?
+Rebekah Afari are you British?? I recognize some BSL and the BSL alphabet
Oops I asked you this before the part you mentioned BSL sorry but BSL is fun to watch!
I love that you described your world as "beautifully silent."
NewRo68- thank you.
I imagine being deaf is like having normal hearing, but other people can communicate using telepathy while I can’t.
That probably quite a good analogy.
Or imagine being the last citizen of country long gone and you have no way to adapt.
Watching this as a 2nd year ASL (American Sign Language) student made me soo confused until I realized that she is signing in BSL. Amazing message though!
I'm American that knows a few asl signs, so this was interesting to me to see what the differences and similarities are. I met someome from England who knew the basic signs and alphabet in bsl, that was interesting. Their alphabet uses 2 hands. Met a deaf guy from Japan or Korea, knew their sign language, learned English and could lip read somewhat in both languages and because of it, learned basic asl.
is there a "universal" sign language? im learning asl thru Bill Vicar's youtube. Finding out there are a lot other sign languages is a bit tiring to think. is there too much difference?
@@eeskaatt it's all very different. There are many hearing languages so it makes sense to have many sign languages
@@eeskaatt I love LifePrint. Bill has a great personality. He makes it easy to understand.
@@eeskaatt even here in Canada there's 3 different sign languages. ASL, mostly used by anglophones, but sometimes used in Inuit communities, LSQ, used by French Canadians, and IUR, a regional native Inuit sign language. And they're all very different.
people who become deaf but learned how to speak english can still speak it, it just feels weird to not hear your voice, but you can feel the vibrations in your throat.
It's interesting how the audience did the applause in BSL. But because it didn't feel complete they had to clap "normally" afterwards when she had turned her back towards them.
It not a clapping in BSL but we did that way because we cannot hear the clap so we waving use our hand cos we can see
It not a clap in BSL but it equality to deaf people
@@darci4434 What would have been a better word for it? Clapping in sign language?
@@tarananajaika we just say wave
We don't really have name for it but we act it bc deaf person will understand what they means
@@darci4434 I think the sentence would have the same meaning if I edited "clapping" with waving.
Maybe just replace it with "applause"?
@@tarananajaika yes I completely agree because waving is a deaf applause
Thank you for your talk. Sign Language is something very important. And I think it should be taught at schools.
Hussein Nour It is taught at some schools but I do agree it should be taught more but it normally not a foreign language class that is offer at most schools. When I was in high school during my freshmen year they only offer Spanish then they add French my sophomore year then my junior year they started offering ASL.
Note:
For Deaf people, BSL is their first language. English (or any other...) is the second.
6:00
Delay language -> delayed communication --> leads to isolation and mental health problems.
Solutions: free/cheap access to BSL classes for parents with Deaf child.
45000 children deaf in the UK, but only 23 schools for deaf children in total (giảm từ 77 xuống 23)
8:00 78% of school aged deaf children attend mainstream school (where there's no specialist provisions)
Why doesn't this have more views????
This needs more views, yes because we as deaf and hard of hearing people continues to face these barriers.
CZcams algorithms
I am 1 year into a 3 year interpreter training course and this has been a fantastic clip to watch. Thank you to Rebekah for sharing your story and to the fantastic interpreter for a smooth; professional voice-over xx
I'm DeafBlind, for me communication is harder, Deafs use sign language, I use tactile sign language and sometimes pro-tactile sign language. With hearing I use Lorm (Special Handspelling for deafblind) and some hearing over my Hearing Aids!
Im from the US and I love this talk. I agree! Especially parents having access to their childrens main mode of language. Its so important!
As a deaf teenager who has always relied on english and is just now learning asl, I always relied on lip reading. From a young age I have done this and it has become another sense for me. I struggled watching this because I am so used to reading lips that I don't like watching her sign
I didn't realize this was BSL until 4:14.
You are spot on in everything you said. I also think B.S.L. should be taught in schools from the 1st to last year's. Your rights are not being met that is against the law. I wish you well and that your dream comes true.
you are very beautiful shirley permit me to say that
She is so beautiful.
Was confused till I realized she was signing BSL instead of ASL lol. Beautiful message, great show
We also have same like you same but they change already but still struggling because same as you think and do same but they can help you if connect with them to learn and experience with them too.
May God bless all deaf people. Turn every difficulty they faced as a charity and grant them janntul Firdous (paradise).In sha Allah
Love this, made me cry actually, lol. Because we still face some barriers and some very harsh situations and at times we have a mental breakdown because of the lack of access through school, college, work, etc. Everyone of them has a very different story but all end is the that fact that we need the same equality as the hearing people.
I enjoyed your talk and I want to compliment your interpreter on her work.
You are really brilliant and very eloquent. You're lucky you had a good opportunity to give your signed presentation at the TedxExeter - I've dreamt of giving my presentation at one of the TEDx events in London! It reminded me of failing to get a ticket at TedxClapham on Father's Day tomorrow (17th June 2018).
Beautiful testimony, loved it and I hope your dream for better and equal opportunities for deaf people come to fruition. I am hearing impaired for the last 5 years, so relatable and similar experiences had - thank you Rebekah Afari for your inspiration and heart, and also the lovely interpreter Omoyele Thomas...abundant blessings & alofa's.
Thank you so much for your information. I hope learning to sign will soon be available to everyone. It saddens me this isn't offered for free everywhere
Everything you said is true. Thank you for your message. Your an amazing woman!!
For me as a Swede this is crazy! In Sweden you get the classes for free (or you can get money from the government to go on them)
Wow thats wonderful!
wonderful presentation & very useful/important information, thank you!
That was awesome there are so many barriers to overcome.
Great presentation. Thank you.
I thought the audience would completely forget about how they should clap at the end, but turns out they didn't, that's really cute :)
Such a wonderful TedTalk! Thank you for sharing your story. I hope to help break down barriers too!
This every good well done Rebekah
Very proud of you.
Brilliant. Thanks Rebekah.
Thank you for sharing. The information will be of great help with my assignment
That impressive!
great talk Rebekah!
Very interesting to see what deaf alike
She’s so cool 🤩
She's strong, and so cute. I want to learn the sign language but I don't know where to start!! 🌼🌼👍
Search for Asl apps in the app store or browse online for Asl dictionaries
That's how I'm learning ☺
Tauriel her Language is BSL not ASL
I love the points in this....im hearing but im in college studying to be a elementary school teacher so i thought it would be a good idea for me to learn ASL so weather theyre hearing or deaf the students can access the info
Idk why this made made cry
❤️
I been learning asl for almost 3 years i do deaf theter i am hearing
i like they way they clapped
😊😊😊
I wish there were subtitles
Cries in Asl
👑Beautiful👑
Hello
She is Beautiful! • ☺️🤎
Very cute human
but how do they learn the sound and meaning of letters and words if the are deaf from the age of 0?
They don't learn the sound of letters and words.... They learn the meaning of signs the same way hearing children learn the meaning of spoken language, by trial and error, by being spoken to in that way, etc.
Are you asking how they learn to read and write English? They don't learn the sound. They learn the meaning and spelling many different ways, e.g. by learning lots of words and then using reading and stories to learn grammar; by having the rules explained to them and practicing, by using fingerspelling, and once they have a bit of basics, by reading a lot. Like with any other child, second language learning is very highly dependent on first language skills, since the first language develops the part of the brain that uses language.
They should teach kids deaf language at school .also get them 2 visit deaf people on a regular basis .talk in sign language .so as they don't feel isolated .
You 21
I have a deaf daughter i must say its quite challenging
I am partially deaf and it gets hard when I am at friends houses for sleep overs. A story of this is when my friend threw up and my second friend woke me since the throw up was right next to my head I couldn’t hear what my friend was saying so I was half asleep and couldn’t hear what he was saying and almost licked it not realizing he was telling me that friend 1 had throw up almost on me and that I had get up sit that we could clean the carpet and the mattress.
There should be 1 deaf language recognized internationaly is just a opinion and no offence i am just starting to want to learn this
That makes no sense ahA
Do you think there should be only one spoken langauge?
Totalrespect to the deaf at all times
Did anyone else just learn cursive in kindergarten for absolutely know reason like why couldn’t we have just learned ASL instead who cares about cursive!!
To this day I still don't understand why there are so many sign languages. It would be quite reasonable to make just one sign language, so that those small communities can gather and communicate with as many people as possible and yet, sign languages are very fractured with tiny communities, who can't interact by signing internationally without relearning a whole language.
Yeah but all sign languages are probably different in the same way that every other language. I mean, it would be easier if all humans had one language but we all have different histories, culture, etc. so that's not really an option. And by the way, some SL are quite similar so they're still able to communicate among them even when they're from an other country
@@mans_3299 But you see, all those sign languages aren't really old. They had pretty much perfect conditions to to have finally a single language. These people aren't a country, their culture is disability, they are basically ostracized from society and they want to communicate. It's hard to find people who sign at all and now this mess of sign languages serves exactly who?
I mean, I'm deaf too. Not completely deaf, but quite badly deaf. I still can very poorly get by with normal language, but at some point in my life I might really need to learn sign language. But I don't really want to spend years learning some useless language that only few hundred people know. At that point, I might as well just write everything down. Way easier and is far more useful with normies, who panic, when they deal with deaf person. My country, has 2.7 million people and deaf people are not really a big portion of that and out of those deaf people, only some decide to learn how to sign. I guess that's nice to do that, but you have to be reasonable and realize that it would be a lot better if sign languages weren't so fractured.
Just look at internet. Nobody cares from where you are, but basically anyone can communicate with English on it. That's a wonderful thing and truly connects more people than if they instead each used their own language. International internet is a wonderful thing. We take it for granted and yet there could have been millions of reasons why it wouldn't have turned out as it is. And it's by a chance, but by a choice. people realize how valuable it is and continue that. I wish that it was so easy for deaf people. Statistics about them are scary. Many of them aren't exactly happy and mostly due to how deprived of human interaction they are. It's really unreasonable to have as many sign languages as we have today.
@@clairee4939 Dude, I'm deaf and I ain't gonna learn sign language of my country to sign to perhaps few hundred of them. That's ridiculous.
This goes for any language, why use hundreds when we could use one? There are answers to this question though, you just have to look for them.
@@rongould1466 Except sign languages are modern and don't have as much history and could have avoided that issue entirely.
Very useful and inspiring presentation! I'm a filmmaker too :)
Though, regarding discrimination of deaf people - it isn't just deaf people who experience discrimination - I am hearing and have had similar issues - an example of this would be when I submitted my film, 'White Noise', into DeafFest, and received a response stating it won't even be considered because I'm not deaf and everyone involved happened to be hearing; yet, 'White Noise', revolves around a deaf person and involves BSL, raising awareness of deafness and sign language - so, it isn't just deaf people, hearing people experience this too.
Deaf people what was your first job?
A whole new silent world. If you ask me it’s a blessing and a curse. No offense whatsoever
Why is it a curse?