Dr Jim Cromwell is a clinical psychologist working in BSL for the last sixteen years, and trying to work in BSL for the ten years before that. He has worked with Deaf people in the NHS and for charities, is co-Chair of the Applied Deafness and Psychology Special Interest Group, has been Chair of the British Society for Mental Health and Deafness, and is also a qualified interpreter. He is also an excellent ukulele player. He’s also written a manifesto calling for hearing people who work with deaf people to learn to sign. Here, we explain more…
Jim Cromwell is a hearing clinical psychologist working in a Deaf school, and previously in a mental health service for Deaf people. He is a big supporter of BSL and so as a result makes no friends with hearing non-signers and particularly with hearing signers who choose not to sign…!
Recently he wrote this – Dr Jim’s Little Red Book.
It began when somebody said to him, “I think I understand why you sign for yourself in mixed meetings, but I don’t understand well enough to explain to everyone else why they should.”
So he started off making notes to explain it better, and it became a bit of a treatise. His 16-page informal book is the result of that.
It is written by a hearing person for hearing people, so it begins – uncomfortably perhaps – by talking about what “disability” means, and goes on:
- to show how BSL is a civil rights issue
- to explain why hearing people in a Deaf organization should sign whether or not a Deaf person is present
- to demonstrate why BSL is better than non-fluent signers think it is
- and why sign-supported English is much worse than non-fluent signers think it is
- and to explore why interpreters are not the solution to all problems.
He argues that when two people communicate, there is a lot of interpreting going on already. You interpret your thoughts into words/signs, the other person interprets your words/signs into their own thoughts/understanding, they form an idea for an answer and interpret that idea into words/signs, which you then interpret into your own understanding.
That’s without an interpreter. Four interpreted steps.
With an interpreter there are eight steps – and in both cases you are only aware of the shortcomings of one interpretation – the one between your thought and your statement – and there are always shortcomings.
He says that being ignorant of all the other imperfect interpretations, plus the (quite appropriate) cultural as well as linguistic interpretation that interpreters provide, can lead to a misleading sense of easy and seamless accuracy.
This misleading feeling of effectiveness also happens when hearing people use sign-supported English – because they feel like they are saying/signing exactly what they want to say (especially because they can hear their words spoken out loud) – but lots of important grammatical information is lost including tense, who did what to whom and so on.
The visual component of SSE is just a fraction of the intended content, but to the hearing person it does not feel that way at all.
Jim argues that for these – and lots of other – reasons, it is more effective for hearing people to sign for themselves, even if they are not as fluent as the available interpreters, and that hearing people in Deaf organizations should sign even if a Deaf person is not there.
Jim hopes the Little Red Book will enlighten hearing people who make life difficult for their Deaf colleagues and for themselves by misunderstanding the issues.
As he says – true communication is a meeting of minds not a meeting of words.
Download it for free here http://bit.ly/drjimslittleredbook and leave an opinion in the comments. What do you think?
Enjoying our eggs? Support The Limping Chicken:
The Limping Chicken is the world's most popular Deaf blog, and is edited by Deaf journalist, screenwriter and director Charlie Swinbourne.
Our posts represent the opinions of blog authors, they do not represent the site's views or those of the site's editor. Posting a blog does not imply agreement with a blog's content. Read our disclaimer here and read our privacy policy here.
Find out how to write for us by clicking here, and how to follow us by clicking here.
The site exists thanks to our supporters. Check them out below:
- BSL Zone: TV programmes in BSL for the Deaf community
- Deaf Umbrella: what support is available for deaf students?
- Bellman & Symfon: home alerting solutions, including the mobile phone transceiver!
- SignVideo: Instant BSL video interpreting online
- SignHealth: check out the BSL health library
- 999 BSL: call 999 in an emergency, in BSL
- Appa: Looking for RSLIs, TSLIs and CSWs, apply here!
- Signly: Adding BSL to websites
- Signworld: Learn BSL online!
- DCAL: world-class research into deafness, cognition and language
- Action Deafness: “A Deaf-Led Charity” – interpreting & community support services
- Sign Solutions: Instant access to Interpreters, training and BSL translation nationwide
- InterpretersLive: On demand BSL video interpretation
- Lipspeaker UK: specialist lipspeaking support
- BID: Deaf services, including advice and support, interpreting, employment and letters
- Performance Interpreting: BSL interpreting at concerts
- National Deaf Children's Society: The leading charity for deaf children
Tim
May 9, 2014
It’s not just hearing people who use SSE, some Deaf people do too. Criticise SSE and hearing people, by all means, but there is no right – whatsoever – to criticise Deaf people who use SSE.
Cathy
May 9, 2014
This is an interesting concept: but hearing people can only do so if they can indeed use BSL. What happens if they can’t use it? They can’t afford classes to learn? They are not interested in the language?
Don’t forget many hearing people have been working somewhere, maybe for donkeys years, then along comes a deaf person and they are obliged to use BSL. No, I don’t think so!
SSE is a perfect use of language and brings minds and thoughts together just as well as any language can. Many deaf people use SSE and believe it or not some deaf people hate BSL, so it cannot be right to force hearing people to use it, especially when no deaf person is present, that is absurd!
This concept also takes away people’s choices, being forced to use BSL when not everyone is cut out for it, is tantamount to abuse, if that’s not too strong a term!
Let deaf people have their choice of SSE or BSL and hearing people to have their choice of whether to learn BSL or not.
Daniel
May 9, 2014
That would depend on what environment those hearing people were in and whether or not they chose to be there?
ie… choosing to work in a DEAF environment and choosing not to sign!
Tantamount to Abuse?…. Hhmmmm !…bit strong!
Tim
May 10, 2014
…”being forced to use BSL when not everyone is cut out for it, is tantamount to abuse, if that’s not too strong a term!”
Actually, the abuse is Deaf people being forced to “listen” and speak and being denied BSL aka ‘oralism.’
Geraldine Griffiths
May 9, 2014
I think EVERYBODY should learn signing – whether BSL or SSE – and use it all the time – I’m learning signing at the moment and I try to use it as much as possible. Well done to Jim for writing this book, I support him and everything else that is done for the deaf community – by the way I am a hearing person.
Linda Richards
May 9, 2014
There are some hearing people who just cannot sign well. I have seen this in Deaf organisations, disability organisations and Deaf mental health units. So there’s a case that, for my own good mental health, I’d rather these bad signers – however well-intentioned – didn’t.
Karlina
May 13, 2014
Linda – give us a chance, will you please? 🙂 I am very happy that the Danish signers are very patient with people like me who get thrown into this because of a deaf child – yeah, sometimes the fluent signer looks desperate when I try – 🙂 but if THEY do not sign with me, how will I ever learn?
Andy, not him, me.
May 9, 2014
In my humble opinion there is more chance of the Abbe de L’Epe jumping out of his box and dancing a jig than there is of hearing people learning to sign just to accommodate us.
DW
May 9, 2014
Is it just me, or has anyone else really struggled to read this post? I’ve read it three times and I’m still not quite sure what the main point is. Are you saying that SSE is not the way to go and it should always be BSL and everybody should use BSL, hearing / deaf / present or not alike, or that people should always sign regardless of how good they are, as it’s better to receive information from someone direct?
I’m a deaf SSE user. I can follow BSL too. I would always prefer to see what is being said from the person who is talking direct rather than via my interpreter, irrelevent of what they are using, BSL or SSE. And actually, even if the signing isn’t up to scraps, if they have a clear lip pattern and know the basics and the alphabet well, I still tend to prefer that than receiving the information second hand, however valued I consider my wonderful communicators.
For me, it’s not just about learning sign language, it’s about making an effort. If no one knows BSL but makes an effort with gestures, common sense, facial expressions so I can understand them directly, and isn’t patronizing whilst doing so – it goes a long long way with me.
Kara Clapp
May 9, 2014
Good Morning Dr. Cromwell. I read your book. It certainly is food for thought. I subscribe to the Limping Chicken so that I can become more familiar with issues faced by non-hearing persons. I too am a medical professional–in the US. I have been contemplating what act of “paying-it-forward” would be most helpful to the Deaf community. When I was four years old I was taken in by a deaf couple for two years while my mother was ill and apparently I could sign like a banshee on fire. I eventually lost most of the skill after leaving their home, but the sense of doing something in return never left me. So now I am in the autumn of my life and would like to find out if becoming fluent again would be welcome in the Deaf community as a signing medical provider. What you said is true, I lack confidence in signing, but I am not sure what I should sign. The couple have long since passed into heaven and I have no idea what I learned to sign. BSL or SSE. Since it was 1968, I assume it was BSL. I tried one course with all hearing students and wasn’t thrilled because we were allowed to speak in class, which prevents immersion and thinking in the second language, so I dropped out despite being the best student in the class. I did tell my deaf instructor what was happening so he didn’t think I was mad at him. Medical signing is nearly impossible to find, so I feel stuck. I am a clinician with diagnostic powers and want to not rely on an “interpreter” and I suspect that deaf persons would love to have a dyad of communication over a triad. Do you have any specific suggestions for me? I am very much stuck in thinking like a hearing person when I try to sign, so I believe that my signing is poorer than I like. Deaf people do try to read my signing, so I must not be as bad as I think I am because they don’t ask me to stop. I would appreciate any direction you could offer me in this matter. I do know you will tell me to keep signing despite my embarrassment, but that’s the only way to improve. I just want to improve in the language what will be most useful to the largest group within the Deaf community. And if you have any medical signing resources to recommend. I don’t mind being laughed at because any new learner will have to suck it up. I just hope that my sincere heart will also shine through and the deaf person will respond to the intent well.
Thank you.
Jim Cromwell
May 9, 2014
Hi Kara, if you would like to contact me via this link (http://bit.ly/jimwork) I’ll happily get back to you. I won’t put my email address here as that is generally a bad plan. I hope that is ok.
Jimmy Craw
May 9, 2014
All the arguments about sign language education will always be insular via the sterotype that surrounds deaf culture which will remain in the distant OUTER LIMITS unless the BDA it’s members, deaf clubs embrace SSE which could allow S/L to be part of the national schools
curriculum.
robertmduncan
May 10, 2014
This article – and Jim’s book – is certainly stimulating and has a lot to be said for it – definitely in workplaces where Deaf people are involved. We followed a policy as close to this as practicable when we made the Channel 4 programme Sign On in the 1990s – at least amongst the production team. It was largely thanks to Rachell Bastikar, who was our most senior Deaf colleague for 12 years, and a great role model. It was Rachell, for example, who asked us to establish the policy that Deaf BSL users would not use their voices in the office, because of the negative impacts this had. Quite a number of hearing colleagues, such as Rob Cowley, Jill Graham, Betty Bage and I did our best to follow a practice that would support this.
Another work that is well worth seeking out for those with an interest is ‘Looking On’: Deaf People and the Organisation of Services (1998) by the Deaf researcher Jennifer Ackerman, Professor Jim Kyle and the wonderful Professor Alys Young. This proclaimed and made the strongest case for an all-signing environment, certainly in Deaf services. It remains the best piece of work of its kind that I know on this subject.
karlina maria
May 13, 2014
Jim – you opened my eyes for the fact that when I talk and sign (not very fluent -lol) I probably do not really communicate what I think I do. I did this “mix” because the speech therapists want us to talk to our child and are skeptical towards signing – and I didn’t want to be accused of not stimulating the speech… But what you say gives me confidence to go for the real stuff. I think both is useful, but I see what you say about the grammar (I did know that, I just didn’t dare 🙂 ) Thanks! ! !