The Silent Child can be seen on Google Play, accessible either by the app or through the desktop site, currently for £1.49.
The Silent Child’s spectacular victory in the Short Film category at the Oscars has shone a light on the problems facing deaf children.
As writer and star Rachel Shenton said after receiving the award, a big part of the inspiration for making the film was the fact that “millions of [deaf] children all over the world live in silence and face communication barriers, and particularly access to education.”
The Silent Child is a pro-BSL film, which has a strong message. Deaf people I’ve talked to see it as reflecting their own experiences, while many non-deaf people say that it illustrates issues they had not thought about or experienced before.
If you haven’t seen it yet, you can see it on Google Play or at an upcoming screening (see the Facebook page here).
Here are five things I picked out in the film, which illustrate some of the issues deaf children face (warning – spoilers!)
1.Parents often assume deaf children hear better than they really do
The mother in the film says several times that her daughter Libby “follows things really well,” when it’s clear to us viewers that she is in a world of her own.
Some people just can’t spot when a deaf child hasn’t truly heard something – and often, a child nodding in agreement, following visual cues or moving with the crowd can wrongly be seen as them understanding what’s going on.
2. Deaf children can find themselves distant from their own families
There’s several dinner table scenes in the film which (much like the play Tribes) make it clear how left out Libby is, seeing her family talk and engage in front of her, but not able to access what was going on.
This is a heartbreaking element of deafness, how deaf children can be so near and yet so far from those they should be closest to, simply for lack of language.
3. Sign language can make a big difference
The film shows the social worker (played by Shenton) teaching Libby sign language, and how Libby seems to ‘wake up’ as a result, going from being passive to smiling and interacting.
As Shenton’s social worker says of BSL: “the basics are easy to learn,” and the film shows the transformative effect that using a clear visual (and wonderful, and beautiful) language can have on a deaf child.
4. But parents can be resistant to using BSL
Sadly, the film reflects reality in showing that Libby’s parents are resistant to learning and using BSL, even though they themselves have identified that she’s lacking in confidence and is quiet.
The film suggests several reasons for their reluctance to learn sign.
Near the start, Libby’s mother indicates that the family are too busy to learn, then later on, she hints that she doesn’t feel enough people use sign language to make it worthwhile.
There’s also a sense that Libby’s parents feel sign language is beneath them, even when, in a key scene, one family member spots Libby using a sign. Instead of picking up on it, they change the subject.
But there’s one particular shot, of Libby’s mother feeling distant from her daughter while she signs in the garden, that really resonated with me. It reflects a fear of the parent being the one feeling left out. Sadly, rather than learn the language, some parents decide the child shouldn’t be exposed to sign at all.
As the film’s ending shows, her parents’ reluctance to embrace BSL – something many deaf people complain about regarding their parents – leaves Libby isolated and facing life in a kind of prison.
5. Too many people assume all deaf children’s needs are all the same
There’s a line near the end when Libby’s mother says to the social worker that the school headmaster has said Libby doesn’t need extra support in the classroom, because “they had a deaf boy before and he was fine.”
This single line reflects one of the most frustrating elements of life as a deaf person – when people assume because they’ve met one deaf person, that the same rules apply to a deaf person they meet in the future.
The fact is that all deaf children are different, their level of hearing, confidence, communication needs and so on. What works for one may not work for another.
These are just a few of the things that stood out to me, tell us what you thought of the film and its message below.
Well done once again to the team behind the film on their stunning award, and make sure you see it soon!
Charlie Swinbourne is a journalist and is the editor of Limping Chicken, and is also an award-winning filmmaker and screenwriter. Charlie has just set up his own media production company, Eyewitness Media. Both episodes of his new sketch comedy in BSL, Deaf Funny, can be seen on the BSL Zone website, and his recent film for deaf charity SignHealth can be seen here.
pennybsl
March 6, 2018
Sad but true, even those of us with ‘good speech’ have the same obstacles.
All professionals working with deaf children yet unaware of adult deaf issues NEED re-training with the latest data and ‘straight from the (Deaf) horse’s mouth’ testimonies from deaf people.
Confused of Berkshire
March 6, 2018
With the success of this film and the thumbs up from the deaf community….does this now mean the Deaf community is happy with hearing people teaching deaf (or other hearing people) BSL?
Tom Kane
March 6, 2018
The Deaf community are never happy about hearing people teaching Deaf people. However deafened people will welcome you with open arms . I wear 2 hearing aids and I am deaf NOT Deaf
Diana Lai
March 6, 2018
At least, many many people will be exposed to the truths of how valuable Sign Language is for children. Hopefully, this is a start of many more similar subjects. This means more public awareness of the Sign Language’s importance in the Deaf Community. AND, no one can say ‘I didn’t know!’ NO excuses after this wide publicity of this movie.
Maggie
March 7, 2018
I have a profoundly deaf “child” he will be 50 this year! I was told ( by school teachers) that BSL would delay speech and prevent him from being able to integrate with the hearing world. I have often wished over the years that I had not listened. He has had mental health problems since his mid twenties. I’m sure his life would have been better if he/ we had been allowed to sign when he was little
Lucy Utting
March 9, 2018
This is a great article thank you and I liked the film.
But why is the woman referred to as a social worker? A social worker wouldn’t be left alone with a child all day, take her swimming etc….
I liked the film but feel this was a big mistake – from the film it seemed more that the family was paying the woman privately to prepare the girl for school and teach her some sign… which ultimately they decided they didn’t want. Calling her a social worker confuses things as the family in this film wouldn’t have been allocated a social worker in the first place and wouldn’t have had this type of role….
Editor
March 11, 2018
The character is described as a social worker on the film’s synopsis on their website and in other sources – thanks Charlie
Lucy Utting
March 12, 2018
Yes I know that’s my point 😊
Mrs muriel lawson
March 9, 2018
I have a beautiful, 30yr.old Deaf Granddaughter Emma,whose Husband, is also Deaf; they have three lovely hearing children.
I identify very much with Maggie’s comment about the advice given to her and her Husband by the the school teachers of their profoundly deaf child almost fifty years ago. The same advice given here in Cornwall at that time and relatively recently, has caused very serious mental illness over the years, in various forms, for which the professionals responsible have so far escaped accountability.
Sadly, this ignorant advice is still being given especially to deaf children who have been given cochlear implants. It is disgraceful to say the least.
Fortunately in 1998 I was able to be instrumental in preparing a case to present to the Special Educational Needs Tribunal which, thank God was successful in allowing Emma to be taught via BSL.
I now see this precious family conducting their lives quite successfully with of their essential home language of British Sign Language. The 8 and 5 yr old CODAs cope relatively well at school and the little six-month old girl should find school life even easier when her turn comes.
Emma sometimes asks for my help when she has problems dealing with school affairs so I have a “working“relationship with the School Staff who willingly co-operate with me to help Emma and her children.
Basic training in BSL and understanding of the problems faced by CODAs and the Deaf Community generally,should be part of teacher training..
Hearing members of the Cornwall Deaf Community who are directly or indirectly employed or involved by the Cornwall Council have recently been unwilling to form a working- party to promote BSL and GCSE BSL in Cornish schools; “devided loyalties“ has been given as the reason for concern in becoming too involved ! Now I am delighted to observe a more open “stand-up-and-be-counted attitude,encouraged by the success of Masie Sly and her Team.
The effect of this much- overdue, excellent production is already proving to be the catalyst that will support all previous efforts of thousands of people devoted to the meaningful education and total social integration of our Deaf Community.
Congratulations and a big thankyou to everybody involved in this wonderful production.