International Day of Sign Languages is celebrated each year on September 23, and at Hireup we proudly support and celebrate this day. The day recognises the importance of preserving sign languages and their cultural diversity, and calls on the community to raise awareness about the importance of sign languages and the human rights of people who are Deaf.
It’s also an opportunity for the Deaf and hard of hearing community to celebrate language, culture and history and to recognise their achievements.
The day coincides with International Week of Deaf People 2020 with this year’s theme of “Reaffirming Deaf People’s Human Rights.”
To recognise the International Day of Sign Languages, we'd like to share the story of Joe.
Joe is an artist who lives with deafblindness and uses Hireup for support. Creating art requires a lot of creativity, collaboration and feedback. After he connected with his support worker Jess, he has become more involved in the community.
“I wasn’t really involved in the community but Jess was very encouraging to get involved to support my mental health and wellbeing for my own mental health, for my well being.”
“Joe and I get along so well because we look at things in a positive way. We like to try and find a way to break down barriers, and I love being that bridge,” says Jess.
According to the World Federation of the Deaf, there are approximately 72 million deaf people worldwide and collectively, they use more than 300 different sign languages. AUSLAN is the acronym that stands for Australian Sign Language and is the official language of the Australian Deaf community.
If you would like to learn more about the International Day of Sign Languages, head to their website.