Juliet England: New signs to be created for Deaf astronomers

Deaf people are at risk of exclusion from some aspects of modern science, because advances are happening so quickly that signs to explain them are struggling to keep up.

That’s according to leading researcher and astrophysicist Dr Olja Panic of the University of Leeds, who says that those with a hearing loss are among the most disadvantaged in terms of accessing branches of science such as her own.

While science can develop rapidly, sign language doesn’t always keep pace with the latest developments. For example, people have talked about black holes for decades, but BSL signs describing them have only been created in recent years. Meanwhile, exoplanets (planets outside the solar system) have been known about for 20 years, and there are thousands of them, but there has only recently been a sign for exoplanet.

While simple terms exist, such as moon, Northern Lights and stars, and for some of the planets, including Saturn and Jupiter, more signs are needed.

And, intriguingly, this is not a new problem. The eighteenth century Yorkshire-based amateur astrologist John Goodricke lost his hearing in early childhood following an illness. He was known for observation of the varying brightness of stars, but again struggled to communicate his discoveries.

Now Dr Panic, a Royal Society Research Fellow, is tackling the issue head-on by leading a Royal Society-funded project launched in December last year and taking place over the next year aimed at creating dozens of new signs (around 50 of them), which will open up her own research into the formation of planetary systems to those who are unable to hear.

She was chosen by the Royal Society to lead an Astrophysics workshop to develop the relevant BSL signs. And she hopes it will be the first step along the road to raising awareness of the need for new signs, both for astrophysics and other disciplines.

Currently, there are some 100 basic BSL signs covering a variety of astronomical concepts. But there’s no in-depth vocabulary, making it hard, for example, for deaf students to follow university and other courses in the subject.

Dr Panic said: “With astrophysics and other scientific areas, there are significant challenges for the deaf community as the language that would allow them to explore and discuss the subject simply isn’t there. I find it so exciting that I can design new signs with the deaf community and it will then be there forever.

“The new signs will allow scientists like me to give talks, workshops and lectures so that I could share my research via an interpreter.”

Chair of the Royal Society public engagement committee Professor Carlos Frenk added:

“This is an exciting new project which will allow the deaf community to deepen its scientific knowledge and share their experiences with researchers. It’s a great example of putting one of our key strategic priorities into practice –demonstrating the importance of science for everyone.”

A two-day workshop has already taken place involving deaf scientists, astronomy enthusiasts and commentators. It began the process of designing the 50 new signs conveying such, er, everyday terms as interferometric telescope and protoplanetary disc in BSL.

New signs are recorded by being added to a video dictionary.

The ‘challenging’ session was led by Heriot-Watt university’s Gary Quinn, a deaf linguist and sign language expert.

He explained: “BSL is a highly visual language, and it doesn’t always readily connect with the intensely specialised terms of astronomy and astrophysics. We’ve tried to build on the signs that were already there. Now we just need to see if they work!

“So in the coming months we’ll be checking out how user-friendly they are, and how easy it is to recall each new sign.”

The British Deaf Astronomical Association has also welcomed the move. Co-ordinator Derek Rowley, a deaf astronomy enthusiast and deaf BSL user who’s also a member of Milton Keynes Deaf Astronomical Society, says: “There are growing numbers of deaf people who are interested in astronomy, either at an amateur or professional level. Sign language must develop so that people can be part of most important scientific discussions about the origins of the universe, which are taking place all the time.

“Ensuring sign language keeps pace with the advances in science will also ensure that deaf people can take their rightful places as members of the scientific research community. It will also excite people about the wonders of astronomy. It’s increased my own interest as well.

“I also think it’s important that this happens across a range of science subjects.”

The story has already been picked up by BBC news and the phys.org website.

At Limping Chicken, it’s never been news to us that deaf people can and must reach for the stars! Now they’re going to have the tools they need to literally do just that.