British Deaf Association slams ‘sign systems’ such as Signalong and ‘Baby Sign’

The British Deaf Association (BDA) has criticised a rise in “sign systems” such as Signalong, Makaton and Baby Signs which are created and shared online without the involvement of Deaf people.

The charity, which works to promote British Sign Language (BSL), expressed “serious concerns” on Monday over what it said was an “exponential growth” in the content from hearing people.

In a statement shared on Monday, the BDA said the social media posts have caused “anger and distress” to the Deaf signing community and led to “confusion” among the hearing population.

They wrote: “The rise in digital technology, such as smartphones, social media, and video calling apps, has represented an enormous breakthrough for Deaf people in both reducing their isolation and empowering them to communicate in their preferred language: British Sign Language.

“However, it has been accompanied by a deeply worrying trend: the widespread misrepresentation and cultural appropriation of sign language by hearing people – often with poor signing skills – who ‘teach’ sign language to others online.

“Or worse, [they] create entirely new ‘sign language systems’ based on English grammar which borrow, adapt, or simplify signs from BSL – or make completely new signs up with no input from BSL users.

“Let us be clear: these ‘sign systems’ make absolutely no sense to Deaf people.”

The organisation went on to state “well-meaning hearing people, schools and nurseries” are giving a “misleading impression” they are teaching children a “skill for life” when using Makaton, Signalong and ‘Baby Signs’.

Makaton is described as a language programme combining speech, symbols and sign to help those with learning disabilities to communicate, while the charity Signalong define the communication method as a “keyword sign-supported communication system” based on BSL with signs used in spoken word order.

Meanwhile, ‘Baby Sign’ is considered to be a range of signs and gestures used to help babies and toddlers communicate before they have learned how to speak.

However, while the BDA accepted the three language systems “can be helpful for those with learning or communication difficulties”, they stressed they should not be deemed “equal to appropriate replacements” for BSL.

They added: “It would make far more sense to teach children – both hearing and Deaf – BSL, a natural, rich, visual language that will enable them to communicate with the Deaf community for the rest of their lives.

“We are no longer willing to sit back and allow hearing people to appropriate, misrepresent or otherwise abuse our language. Makaton, Signalong and ‘Baby Signs’ are not sign language. They are not languages at all.

“While we warmly welcome the record number of people in the UK taking an interest in sign language for the first time, we are concerned at the widespread confusion among the British public about BSL and these other – artificial – ‘sign systems’ created without the input of Deaf people.”

Further to tweets over the weekend, the BDA have released a statement on “sign systems” and the oppression of British Sign Language (BSL).

BSL version of our statement:https://t.co/4UCMAHG97P

#ProtectBSL #PreserveBSL #PromoteBSL pic.twitter.com/O40ZpAEk2i

— British Deaf Association (@BDA_Deaf) June 13, 2022

The BDA concluded their statement by encouraging hearing people to learn sign language from a “qualified, fluent [and] native Deaf teacher in a classroom” and reach out to local Deaf clubs, pubs and social groups to make friends with Deaf people.

“Don’t expect to learn BSL from watching a few videos on YouTube made by a hearing person who does not themselves master our rich, complex, visual language. It will take time and effort, but we promise it will be worth it,” they said.

The message comes as a TikTok video from the Signalong charity – since deleted – showed an individual signing the word ‘dinosaur’ with the incorrect hand movements.

Sharing the post to Twitter, Deaf content creator James Boyle wrote: “I can’t get over this. This teacher really looked at the signing diagram and misunderstood the past sign is supposed to be in continued motion.

“Let me reiterate: let’s leave teaching sign language to qualified Deaf educators.”

Enable those to have a form of communication which is often easier to learn and remember than BSL. We will never claim to be a language like BSL as we aren’t. We have been established as a charity for 30 years too so can confidently say that our system works for those who use it

— SignalongCharity (@Signalong) June 6, 2022

In response to a Twitter user last week, Signalong said they were ‘not BSL’ and are therefore “not a language either”.

“We are a sign supported communication system developed for those who struggle to verbalise their communication, and not who are deaf.

“Like other systems in the UK, we use unaltered BSL signs where possible, but that does not mean that they will be the same as our methodology is different, and BSL is often too complex for those who use our system.

“We perform our signs in spoken word order which also differs from BSL. Our system tries to encourage the ability of speech or at least enable those to have a form of communication which is often easier to learn or remember than BSL.

“We will never claim to be a language like BSL as we aren’t. We have been established as a charity for 30 years too so can confidently say that our system works for those who use it.”

The Limping Chicken has approached Signalong for comment in response to the BDA’s statement.

Photo: British Deaf Association.

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is an award-winning Deaf freelance journalist and campaigner from Bedfordshire. He can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.