We all have moments in our lives when something happens that – like a fork in the road, sends us on a different path.
A day that changed my life was the day I started talking to two complete strangers in London, almost exactly ten years ago.
To watch Charlie signing his article, click play below, or scroll down to continue in English!
It was a weekday in February 2005, and I was walking through London in the rain.
I was 23 at the time and I’d moved to London the month before, living with hearing friends. I was soaked to the bone, but I wasn’t feeling gloomy at all – I’d just had a job interview which had gone really well. So I was wet but upbeat.
I’d just reached Leicester Square tube station when I saw a man and a woman signing to one another. At first I carried on walking, because they seemed to be locked in conversation. Then I stopped and signed to them “are you Deaf?”
Faced with a soaking wet stranger signing at them, the couple understandably looked a bit surprised. “Yes we’re Deaf,” they said. “Do you know where deaf people meet in London?” I asked.
They soon told me that there was a pub just round the corner, where Deaf people met every week. They went there sometimes and I could come along.
And that was it. The conversation lasted about a minute or two. But it was the start of a real change in my life.
The week after, I started going to the pub. It was awkward at first, signing to strangers, but as the weeks went by, I started to get to know more people.
The reason it was such a big change was because until then, the Deaf people I tended to know were older – such as my parents’ friends.
My friends at school and university were always hearing. So this became the first time in my life I’d got to know Deaf people my age, which was the start of building up a sense of my own Deaf identity.
A lot more changes happened in my life after that, such as starting work in Deaf media a few months later, but that moment when I stopped and talked to the couple always feels like a real turning point in my life.
Remembering it, along with learning about my wife Joanne’s experience of finding her Deaf identity, eventually inspired me to make a half-hour documentary called Found.
The documentary features three deaf people’s stories, including Joanne’s, and will be broadcast for the first time tonight.
I hope you enjoy it. And do tell us about the moment that led to you finding your Deaf identity in the comments below!
Watch Found by clicking here.
Charlie Swinbourne is the editor of Limping Chicken, as well as being a journalist, director and award-winning scriptwriter. He has written for the Guardian and BBC Online, and has written and directed a range of dramas in sign language, including The Kiss.
The Limping Chicken is the UK’s deaf blogs and news website, and is the world’s most popular deaf blog.
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Martine
June 18, 2015
Fab video Charlie!! Definitely need more people like you signing your articles (I promise I will do so for my next one!) can’t wait to watch the prog tonight
Editor
June 18, 2015
Thanks!
Simon
June 18, 2015
Funnily enough Charlie, Your dad helped me find my Deaf Identity!!
I’d just left School and was invited to help out at my junior School’s sports day, Your dad happened to be there and told me all about the Deaf Youth Club he ran at the time, I went along the following week, the rest is history!!!
Editor
June 18, 2015
Ah wow! I’ll tell him that, he’ll be delighted!
Linda Richards
June 18, 2015
Wow! There’s a story there about your own story Charlie!
Who were the couple? Are you still in touch with them? Do they know what a difference their welcoming signs made to you? And much, much more!
Thank goodness we didn’t lose you! Imagine…. So much would be lost from our lives (and yours), not least The Limping Chicken!
Very much looking forward to tonight’s premiere of this programme.
Editor
June 18, 2015
Hi Linda, I’m not still in touch I’m afraid, but hopefully I’ll bump into them soon (or they might read this!)
Linda Richards
June 18, 2015
And your video is fabulous!
robertmduncan
June 18, 2015
Look forward to it Charlie, and well done for signing your article as well.
Benje Estes
June 18, 2015
I was able to follow his BSL signing with the aid of his mouthings to make word associations. I wish I could watch it from America. He definitely is an inspiration for many others.
Editor
June 18, 2015
You can see it anywhere in the world online!
ls
June 18, 2015
Please use quality captioning on the video also. Millions of deaf, deafened, hoh are excluded from an experience of equal communication access (for video watching). Mega-millions of us have an important identity also and want to build bridges. The cost of captioning is not huge, and/or there are volunteers connected to the CCAC (or on Amara) that can help. #CaptiontheWorld
Editor
June 18, 2015
Hi Is, the reason for the signed video is to give sign language users access to the written English text of the article. If people can’t understand the signed version, they can read the article in English, and vice versa! Thanks, Charlie
Linda Richards
June 18, 2015
I think that’s a tad unfair.
The article is in English. The video is in BSL. They are the one and same. Is that not evident? Followers of the Limping Chicken can use either, or, or both! Charlie’s made his article accessible for English language users and for BSL users. Kudos to the guy I say.
And the point of the article is, although the seed of the idea of the programme was formed from a moment ten years ago, the story is about people who found their Deaf identity. One they chose, one that was not forced upon them and one they have chosen to retain.
Had Charlie not signed his article – actually with a lot of emotion as BSL users can see – and it had been left to just the English text, many would have criticised the lack of ‘access’, the hypocrisy of making such a programme and the insensitivity of talking about us and our ilk but not including us. Charlie didn’t do that. Like I say, kudos to the guy.
Now – to more important things, like gearing up for the programme which will be broadcast very, very soon! Very much looking forward to that.
Natalya Dell
June 18, 2015
It is interesting how many people like you Charlie who I *assume* have just /always/ been part of D/deaf communities all their lives…
I am really looking forward to your film, I expect it will make me cry though (in a good way).
I may even feel brave enough to commit my deaf story in sign language and English to the Internet… Sharing of stories could be really powerful.
Lana
June 18, 2015
Very well made film.. congrats.. i have left my comments on BSL Zone.. I want to say that it is true for deaf like you and me who have deaf parents were more involved with our parents’ friends social life whilst growing up. I learnt much later that these people are my parents’ friends not mine even though I called some as my Aunties and Uncles. Like you, I had to find and make friends myself.
Nanny
June 19, 2015
Just watched your signed video and I remember your new path to discovery to your inner self and growth to what you have today. Dad and I are delighted that you have impacted on other people’s lives as we do with each other. So much enrichment – Deaf together.
Editor
June 19, 2015
Thanks Mum! x
lEaChY
June 23, 2015
You’ve let the cat out of the bag…. We all know your age now! Still a young mule! Seriously the film was thought provoking and touched many people’s hearts and hopefully went some ways to raise awareness. They say some Deaf people are too direct, crude and in ‘attack mode’ but can you blame us after years of oppression! Well done Charlie especially persuading your wife to take part!