Lilian Keddie Lawson, OBE, is a Scottish linguist and activist. She is Deaf and a British Sign Language user.
She was born in Fife to a hearing family. She was sent to the Donaldson's School for the Deaf in Edinburgh, before attending Mary Hare Grammar School, [1] where she showed her organising skills when she got involved in a number of societies and activities. She was interested in science and studied zoology at the University of Edinburgh in the 1970s. After graduation, she was contacted by Mary Brennan, who at the time was pioneering research in British Sign Language at the Moray House in Edinburgh. Together with Brennan she published groundbreaking research that gave BSL the status of a language. [2] [3]
She then worked for the British Deaf Association as an administrator for 11 years. It was a busy period for the Association. Her husband, Jock Young, was elected in 1985 as the first Deaf chair of the Association. During his tenure, the British Sign Language Dictionary was published, and Princess Diana was the Patron of the association. [4]
In 1992 Lawson moved back to Scotland to work for the Scottish section of the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), position she held until 2000, when she became the director of the Scottish Association for the Deaf, then just renamed Scottish Council on Deafness (SCoD), role she had for almost 14 years. [5]
In the 2005 New Year Honours Lawson was appointed OBE "For services to Deaf people", [6] and was the first Deaf person in Scotland to receive this honour. [7]
Her campaigning work was key in achieving legal recognition for BSL in Scotland and led to the approval of the BSL Scottish Bill in 2015. [8] [9]
In 2016 she was awarded an honorary doctorate of Letters by Heriot Watt University for her work in the field of research on British Sign Language as a campaigner with the Deaf community. [10] [11] [12] In the same year she was also awarded with the Francis Maginn Award by the BDA, to recognise her work for the Deaf community. [13]
British Sign Language (BSL) is a sign language used in the United Kingdom and is the first or preferred language among the deaf community in the UK. Based on the percentage of people who reported 'using British Sign Language at home' on the 2011 Scottish Census, the British Deaf Association estimates there are 151,000 BSL users in the UK, of whom 87,000 are Deaf. By contrast, in the 2011 England and Wales Census 15,000 people living in England and Wales reported themselves using BSL as their main language. People who are not deaf may also use BSL, as hearing relatives of deaf people, sign language interpreters or as a result of other contact with the British Deaf community. The language makes use of space and involves movement of the hands, body, face and head.
Irish Sign Language is the sign language of Ireland, used primarily in the Republic of Ireland. It is also used in Northern Ireland, alongside British Sign Language (BSL). Irish Sign Language is more closely related to French Sign Language (LSF) than to BSL, though it has influence from both languages. It has influenced sign languages in Australia and South Africa, and has little relation to either spoken Irish or English. ISL is unique among sign languages for having different gendered versions due to men and women being taught it at different schools.
Dorothy "Dot" Miles was a Welsh poet and activist in the deaf community. Throughout her life, she composed her poems in English, British Sign Language, and American Sign Language. Her work laid the foundations for modern sign language poetry in the United States and the United Kingdom. She is regarded as the pioneer of BSL poetry and her work influenced many contemporary Deaf poets.
Jeff McWhinney was born in 1960 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He is a leader in the UK deaf community.
Gerry Hughes is a British sailor who became the first profoundly deaf man to sail single-handed across the Atlantic Ocean. He crossed the finishing line off Castle Hill, Newport at 11:30 am local time on Saturday 3 July 2005 after 35 days of sailing. Hughes also became the world's first deaf yachtsman to sail single-handed around the world to pass the five great capes. He departed Troon, Scotland on 1 September 2012 and returned to Troon on 8 May 2013. Dr Hughes was added as number 202 on Sir Robin Knox-Johnston's list of elite solo circumnavigators - In 2019 Gerry Hughes published a book about his life called 'Bridging Our Differences'.
Tessa Padden is a Deaf British television presenter and management training consultant. Padden formerly presented the Deaf News segment of a Deaf magazine programme for the BBC, See Hear.
Mary (Molly) Isolen Fergusson was a British civil engineer, the first female fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, elected in 1957.
Christina Cruikshank Miller FRSE was a Scottish chemist and one of the first five women elected to the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Christina Miller was deaf from childhood and also lost the sight of one eye in a laboratory explosion in 1930. The Christina Miller Building within Edinburgh University's Kings Buildings is named in her honour, as is Christina Miller Hall at Heriot-Watt University.
Lilian Lindsay, CBE, FSA was a dentist, dental historian, librarian and author who became the first qualified female dentist in Britain and the first female president of the British Dental Association.
Peter Mitchell Grant OBE, FREng, FRSE, FIEE, FIEEE, FHEA, Eurasip Fellow is Senior Honorary Professorial Fellow, former Regius Professor of Engineering and Head of School of Engineering and Electronics at the University of Edinburgh. In 2004 he was awarded the 82nd Faraday Medal by the Institute of Electrical Engineers for his 'outstanding contributions to signal processing'.
Sophie Leigh Stone is an English stage and television actress. She was the first deaf student to win a place at the drama school RADA. she is best known for her roles as Louise in Two Doors Down and Doctor Who as Cass.
Bencie Woll FAAAS is an American–British linguist and scholar of sign language. She became the first professor of sign language in the United Kingdom when she was appointed Professor of Sign Language and Deaf Studies at City University, London in 1995. In 2005, she moved to University College London where she became Professor of Sign Language and Deaf Studies and Director of the Deafness, Cognition and Language Research Centre (DCAL).
Jean St. Clair is an English actor, screenwriter, director, producer and British Sign Language consultant. She has twice won Best Actress at the French deaf film festival Clin d'Oeil. St. Clair is Deaf and a British Sign Language user.
Nadia Nadarajah is a deaf British actress. She has labelled herself as English South Asian woman with dark skin. She uses British Sign Language.
Audrey Cameron is a Chancellor's Fellow working at the University of Edinburgh. She is Deaf and uses British Sign Language.
Judith Collins was a university lecturer and researcher at Durham University. She was Deaf and a British Sign Language user.
Clark Denmark is a British activist, lecturer and interpreter. He is deaf and a British Sign Language (BSL) user, and he is widely recognised within the Deaf community for his role in advancing the recognition and wider understanding of BSL.
John "Jock" Young (1926–2005) was a British deaf rights campaigner. He was deaf and a British Sign Language user.
Terence (Terry) Riley (1944-2019), PhD, OBE, was a British deaf rights activist and broadcaster. He was Deaf and a British Sign Language user.
Ulrike Zeshan is a German-born linguist and academic specializing in the linguistics of signed languages. She is Professor of Sign Language Linguistics at the University of Central Lancashire, UK.