As the restrictions lessen we would like to take the opportunity to further promote the fact that Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council offers SignVideo virtual interpretation for its customers. 

There are 2 ways you can avail of this service:

1. when visiting our Civic Centres:

Ballycastle:
Sheskburn House, 7 Mary Street, Ballycastle BT54 6QH
Tel: 028 2076 2225

Ballymoney:
Riada House, 14 Charles Street, Ballymoney, BT53 6DZ
Tel: 028 2766 0200

Coleraine:
Cloonavin, 66 Portstewart Road, Coleraine, BT52 1EY
Tel: 028 7034 7034

Limavady:
7 Connell Street, Limavady, BT49 OHA
Tel: 028 7772 2226

Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm

2. Alternatively you can dial in and speak to a Council officer in any of our facilities or venues by clicking on the logo below.  The service is easy to use, secure and free.

         

My name is Melanie Lewis and I am a final year student at the University of Bath. I am currently working on my final year project for BSc (Hons) Psychology which is being supervised by Dr. Richard Hamshaw.

The study has been approved by the University of Bath psychology department’s ethical committee, which adheres to the British Psychological Society’s ethical guidelines.

The study aims to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the deaf community specifically. It explores social, physical, emotional aspects of the global pandemic on the deaf community.

I am seeking participants to take part in a quick 20-minute online questionnaire and would like to respectfully ask if you could share the email/link below with your team and students?  

Who can participate in this study?
– Deaf adults (over the age of 18) are eligible for this study.
– Parents/carers/relatives of deaf individuals are also eligible for this study.

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A film by Jessica Docherty featuring British Sign Language poet Tania Allan signing her work ‘The Land and the Sea’, which uses the Scottish folklore of the selkie wife as a means of exploring themes such as oppression, deaf culture, deaf community, sign language and communication.

Watch at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08p0pwv

The Mid Ulster Council is piloting a service which will benefit customers who are deaf or are hard of hearing. This service will provide instant access to a Sign Language Interpreter for customers who use British Sign Language (BSL). The service also caters for Irish Sign Language (ISL) users on a request basis​.

The link can be accessed via the following webpage https://www.midulstercouncil.org/signvideo

The service currently gives you access to an online BSL interpreter at the following Council offices and leisure venues, Monday to Friday from 9am-5pm:

Cookstown

• Cookstown Council Office
• Cookstown Leisure Centre
• Mid Ulster Sports Arena

Dungannon

• Dungannon Council Office
• Dungannon Leisure Centre

Magherafelt

• Magherafelt Council Office
• Greenvale Leisure Centre

We are looking into organising British Sign Language classes.

If you are interested or know someone who may be interested, please contact us.

Update for Deaf Parents

We know this is a challenging time and we want to ensure you that we aim to assist you the best we can and bring you the most up to date information.

View either BSL or ISL videos at: www.eani.org.uk/covid-19-sign-language-videos

How do you explain concepts like “coronavirus” or “social distancing” to an audience who cannot hear you?

For the past few weeks that has been the job of sign language interpreters Amanda Coogan and Kristina Sinclair.

The pair sign in both British Sign Language and Irish Sign Language at Stormont’s daily coronavirus briefings.

Further read at & source: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-52465003

Action Deaf Youth: This year we have a group of 12 parents of deaf children doing BSL Level 3 with us 😀🧠

We believe this is the FIRST time ever that a group of parents of deaf children have had an opportunity to do a Level 3 BSL course together in NI and possibly the first time ever in the UK! 🙌

We also have three other groups of parents doing BSL Level 1 in Dungannon, Ballymena and Belfast and a very special group of grandparents also doing BSL Level 1. 👍

Next year we hope to offer BSL Level 1 and BSL Level 2 courses again specifically for parents/grandparents/close adult family members of deaf children aged 0-8 years.

These free courses will be taught by our in-house BSL tutor, Michelle Hull, whom many of our regular families already know. Our courses are unique in that they are specially designed to equip parents/grandparents with the signing skills needed to communicate effectively immediately with young deaf children in playful ways.

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