This week is the International week of Deaf people, with the theme for this year being โBuilding inclusive communities for all.โ Headlined by the World Federation of the Deaf Ry, who were established in September 1951 to recognise that deaf people throughout the globe face barriers to full accessibility and participation โ they advocate the right to sign language enables equality in all spheres of life.
The UN General Assembly has also proclaimed September 23rd as the International Day of Sign Languages to help raise awareness about sign language and the rights of deaf people.
In February 2022 I was privileged to serve on the British Sign Language Bill Committee alongside Minister Chloe Smith MP and Rosie Cooper MP.
In making British Sign Language an official language of the UK this Bill recognises the importance of BSL as a common language of our deaf community. This bill was given Royal Assent and became law in May 2022.
More recently I had the pleasure of being one of the judges at Plas Llanfair's Gลตyl Gลตn Dog Fest which was hosted in collaboration with Hearing Dogs for Deaf People with proceeds going to support the amazing work of this charity!
We have around 70 children on Ynys Mรดn who are registered as deaf or hard of hearing and this Bill will improve their life chances. As the MP for Ynys Mรดn
I am continuing to learn Welsh as it is the first language of many of my constituents and I recognise just how important it is for all communities to share a common language.
