Lesley Bellew's Story

Lesley BellewAs the foster parent of a Deaf child, Lesley enrolled onto the Signature Level 1 Award in British Sign Language (BSL) course at CHIIC. She had no experience of BSL or of deafness and felt it was the right thing to do. Lesley would always arrive at the class early with lots of prepared questions on the course and on deafness and would always be the last to leave.

She then progressed on to an intensive Signature Level 2 Certificate in British Sign Language course in order to stay ahead of the child, who is three years old. She was a keen learner with enough enthusiasm to fill the whole classroom. She would support the group with any external information she found either verbally or with printouts that she had prepared.

As the child had become part of the family, Lesley approached CHIIC Sign Language Centre to see if they would teach basic BSL to the whole family. She knew that it was important for them all to be involved. Encouraged by Lesley, the family group has attended various social events at the centre.

Lesley is currently working with CHIIC and Newport Council to establish a group where parents of deaf children or deaf parents with hearing children can meet for 'learning sessions', this is in the very early stages.

In the near future, Lesley and her husband hope to adopt the little girl and her teacher feels that she will be a driving force in improving communication between deaf and hearing people in her community.

Find out about the other winners at the 2011 Signature Annual Awards