Theme: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Why learn the BSL? It is the first language choice of the Deaf community in the United Kingdom and one of the many sign languages used across the world. However, the BSL is not all about the signing; it challenges you to think differently, how to better connect the brain with the body and improve communication skills through lip-reading, use of handshapes and expressing emotions. Because it is a visual language, the BSL is not only aimed at communication with the Deaf but at anyone with hearing difficulty or disability that makes it difficult for them to community orally.

It is also useful in developing more effective clinical communication skills in the University and Colleges and other workplaces once students graduate and begin their chosen careers. To be able to greet and introduce yourself to students and colleagues who may be hard of hearing or deaf alike; to be able to point them in a direction or ask how they feel; this all is a part of our duty of care including the compassion, sympathy and empathy toward others. The BSL may help us demonstrate this better and we should embrace the BSL as an essential feature of everyday clinical life.

Dr Zrinka Mendas will be delivering the session and would like to share her experience of being a deaf academic and offer a glimpse into sign language, Deaf culture and the BSL alphabet.

Please Note: It is important that when you book on this course, on your booking confirmation page, click on Add to Calendar to start the process to import the course appointment into your calendar.

• See Related Courses below to take your skills further

This workshop introduces you to the basics of everyday communication in the BSL. You will learn to initiate a basic conversation, for example, how to greet and introduce yourself to others while using the BSL syntax and asking the questions.

The BSL is about listening to what cannot be heard. It is about experiencing what it is like being a deaf person. It is also about how to better use our body language and our emotions when conveying our messages across. All these skills are essential in our everyday communication and this workshop provides a friendly environment to experience them.

The prerequisite for joining is a basic knowledge of the BSL alphabet and fingerspelling, which you obtained in the earlier workshop.

Join us in the next BSL adventure!

Please Note: It is important that when you book on this course, on your booking confirmation page, click on Add to Calendar to start the process to import the course appointment into your calendar.

• This is an online booking

Dorothy Byrne is the President of Murray Edwards College, one of only two higher education institutions for women left in the UK. She believes passionately that there is a strong need for organisations and institutions for women which champion their interests. Murray Edwards has set up the Murray Edwards Policy Centre for the Wellbeing of Young Women and Girls which has just won funding to research the experience of women students at Cambridge University, including stress and anxiety.

She was formerly Head of News and Current Affairs at Channel Four where her films won many major international awards. She commissioned the Davina McCall documentary about the menopause which resulted in a tripling of demand for HRT. She has commissioned and produced a wide range films about issues directly affecting women including rape in marriage, FGM, domestic violence, sexual assault, problems in maternity services, cervical cancer, infertility, housework and street safety.

Neurodiversity is a revolutionary concept for the field of psychiatry in implying that there is no such thing as a ‘normal’ brain – rather, brains and minds differ. Autism is just one example of neurodiversity. Difference does not mean one type of brain is better or worse than another: they rare simply different, and differences should be celebrated, accepted, and respected. Society has a duty to ensure inclusion, so that people who are different enjoy equal human rights and dignity. Whilst some differences in autistic people cause challenges, such as in communication and social relationships, and are disabilities, other differences are strengths or even talents (such as excellent attention to or memory for detail). The ‘neurodiversity’ framework requires society re-think the design of our schools, work places and public services to make space for different learning and processing styles, so that individuals, including autistic individuals, flourish and fulfil their potential.

Join us for an interesting talk by Professor Sir Simon Baron-Cohen from the Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Medicine.

This talk will be recorded.

Please Note: It is important that when you book on this course, on your booking confirmation page, click on Add to Calendar to start the process to import the course appointment into your calendar.