A new series of Word of Mouth, on BBC Radio 4, explores the different ways in which deaf people communicate: sign language, lip reading and also speaking.
The presenter, Chris Ledgard, talks to the artist and writer Louise Stern, who speaks in sign language and is the fourth generation to be born deaf in her family.
Reporter Sally Heaven visits the University of Bristol Centre for Deaf Studies – the only one in the UK – to find out more about the intricacies of British Sign Language from Linda Day and Rachel Sutton-Spence.
And Chris meets Charlie Swinbourne, a deaf journalist and scriptwriter who grew up in a deaf family and describes himself as “hard of hearing”. He speaks and uses sign language, and so he moves between both the deaf and hearing worlds.
To see the full article and view the broadcasts please visit the BBC’s website here.
