#HandsUpChallenge encourages youngsters to learn sign language

Our country has over five million people who are deaf and hearing-impaired, and who happen to communicate via sign language. Apart from those who are hard of hearing, several hundreds of others who cannot physically speak also communicate via signs. Yet, the awareness or knowledge of sign language among the able-bodied people is so little, thereby making communication for the speech and hearing impaired extremely hard. In a bid to change that, NGO United Way Chennai has curated the #HandsUpChallenge on social media, which is encouraging people to make an effort towards learning simple phrases in sign language.

“Many of us don’t know even the basic signs, making it difficult for interacting with someone who is hard of hearing. The idea behind the challenge was to encourage as many people as we could to learn sign language. Through the digital challenge, we are asking people to put together a simple phrase or sentence using signs, and tag their friends to do the same, to raise awareness of sign language. We want to highlight that learning sign language is just as important as attempting to learn any other language,” Nethra Gupta, who is a part of the NGO, asserts.

Through a tie-up with the website, Talking Hands (which lists thealphabet and phrases in Indian sign language), the challenge is enabling many to speak through signs. Even if your signs communicate a phrase as simple as ‘hello, how are you doing?’, imagine the difference it can make for a hearing or speech impaired person, who struggles to connect with others in the society.

Thirty-three-year-old Santhosh Sundaram, who works with a logistics firm in the city, says he was drawn towards taking part in the challenge for the impact it could generate. “I am usually averse to taking part in digital challenges, but this one felt very genuine. I realised most of us are unaware of communicating through sign language. I began researching about sign language in an attempt to learn a phrase. I learnt that there is a lot of difference between the American sign language and its Indian counterpart. A simple phrase like ‘Good morning, nice to meet you’ turned out to be a huge learning experience for me. I could get a sense of what a hearing or speech impaired person has to go through on a daily basis. If I get a chance, I am keen to become fluent in sign language,”Santhosh says.

Apart from the challenge, the NGO is also helping as many as 120 volunteers learn sign language through workshops, who will in turn teach it to children at city’s schools. “It is our responsibility to create an inclusive world where everyone can achieve his or her full potential. By making small changes, we can transform the lives of people with disabilities. It is hard to imagine how crippling it can be to not access spaces and not be able to communicate with another person. It is very much in our hands to fix it,” adds United Way Chennai’s executive directorArchana Raghuram.