At the March meeting of the Stewartry U3A Margo Currie gave an enthralling and enthusiastic talk on her experience in working with the deaf and hard of hearing. Margo has spent over 30 years working with the deaf including as a Teaching Fellow in British Sign Language at Durham University, a sign language interpreter at political and trade union conferences, as an examiner and is currently working with the Scottish Government.
She explained the different approaches necessary to enable people to communicate where they have been deaf from birth, people who have suddenly become deaf and those who are hard of hearing but reluctant to admit their disability. The means of communication could range from finger spelling to sign language, lip reading and amplification. She demonstrated the British Sign Language fingerspelling alphabet which involved using both hands and the single hand language as used in the USA. She also explained the difference in word order from English to deaf languages. Sign language is both visual and spatial with handshape, location and movement.
Margo demonstrated both lip reading and sign language which gave members an appreciation of how difficult it is for deaf people to communicate.
Membership of the Stewartry U3A has now risen to 233 with 47 interest groups. Future group meetings will be held in the Parish Church Hall, Queen Street, Castle Douglas and the next meeting will be held on Tuesday 28 April at 2.00pm when Simon Kennedy will give a talk entitled Community Safety. Details of the Stewartry U3A can be found on www.stewartryu3s.org.uk.