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. While private correspondence from William Stokoe hinted at a formal name for the language in 1960, the first usage of the term "British Sign Language" in an academic publication was likely by Aaron Cicourel. 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.
Marlee Matlin is an American actress. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for a BAFTA Award, and four Primetime Emmy Awards.
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.
Signing Time! is an American television program targeted towards children aged one through eight that teaches American Sign Language. It is filmed in the United States and was created by sisters Emilie Brown and Rachel Coleman, the latter of whom hosts the series. Between 2006 and 2016, it was syndicated by American Public Television to public television stations across the US. Signing Time! is produced and distributed by Two Little Hands Productions, which is located in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Thursday's Children is a 1954 British short documentary film directed by Guy Brenton and Lindsay Anderson about The Royal School for the Deaf in Margate, Kent, UK, a residential school then teaching lip reading rather than sign language. Apart from music and narration, the film is nearly silent and focuses on the faces and gestures of the little boys and girls. It features methods and goals not now used, and notes that only one child in three will achieve true speech. Filmmakers Lindsay Anderson and Guy Brenton were unable to gain distribution for the film until it won an Oscar in 1955 for Documentary Short Subject. The Academy Film Archive preserved Thursday's Children in 2005.
Sherrie Eugene-Hart is a sign language interpreter and TV presenter based in the West of England and has held the position of Governor at University of the West of England and The City Academy Bristol.
Rachel Joy Shenton is an English actress and writer. She gained prominence through her role as Mitzeee Minniver in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks (2010–2013). She is also known for her role as Courtney in Waterloo Road and has starred in the ABC Family drama Switched at Birth (2014–2017), the BBC2 sitcom White Gold (2019), and the Channel 5 series All Creatures Great and Small (2020–).
Love Is Never Silent is an American drama television film that premiered on NBC on December 9, 1985, as part of the Hallmark Hall of Fame anthology series. It is directed by Joseph Sargent and written by Darlene Craviotto, based on the novel In This Sign by Joanne Greenberg. The film stars Mare Winningham, Phyllis Frelich, Ed Waterstreet, Fredric Lehne, Cloris Leachman, and Sid Caesar. It follows a young woman who struggles with her own need for independence and the obligation she feels for her deaf parents.
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. In 2022, she joined the cast of the new Acorn TV detective series The Chelsea Detective, playing the forensics officer Ashley Wilton. She continued to play that role in season 2 in 2023.
Stutterer is a short drama film written and directed by Benjamin Cleary and produced by Serena Armitage and Shan Christopher Ogilvie.
Chris Overton is an English actor and filmmaker, best known for his film, The Silent Child for which he received critical acclaim and won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. Overton is the husband of Rachel Shenton, who wrote and starred in The Silent Child.
Deaf Like Me is a biographical book about a family who discovers their daughter, Lynn, is deaf, and deals with a language barrier. It was written by Thomas and James Spradley, Lynn's father and uncle, and originally published in 1979. It begins in November 1964, before Lynn was born, and ends in August 1975, when she was ten. A short epilogue by Lynn, 19-years-old, is included in the 1985 edition.
Julie Foy is an English actress and producer, best known for The Silent Child which received critical acclaim and won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.
Rebecca Harris is a British film producer.
Jade Lovall is a fictional character from the BBC medical drama Casualty, portrayed by actress Gabriella Leon. She first appears in the twelfth episode of the thirty-third series, first broadcast on 3 November 2018. Leon was cast in June 2018 alongside Shaheen Jafargholi, who portrays Marty Kirkby. The role marks the actress' television debut. Initially portrayed as lazy and idle, Jade's characterisation develops as she is shown to be an independent, caring and compassionate young woman. Jade is the drama's first disabled, and deaf, regular character; Leon is also deaf and used her personal experiences to develop her character's story. The character uses a combition of Sign Supported English (SSE) and lip reading to communicate. Producers and Leon were keen to not make her disability a defining feature of the character.
Vilma Jackson is an English actor and performer. She is known for portraying the role of Charlie in Coronation Street. She is Deaf and a British Sign Language user. In 2020 Jackson wrote, produced and performed in a short film, "Triple Oppression", which deals with the challenges she faces as Black, Deaf and a woman. The short won four Best Inspirational Film at the New York Film Awards, the FilmCon Awards, Festigious International Film Festival and Los Angeles Film Awards. In 2021 she launched her own chat show, available online.
Lilian Keddie Lawson, OBE, is a Scottish linguist and activist. She is Deaf and a British Sign Language user.
Caroline Parker is an English actress, comedian and performer. She is deaf and a British Sign Language user.
Rose Lucinda Ayling-Ellis is an English actress and model. Deaf since birth, she is a British Sign Language user. On television, she is best known for her role as Frankie Lewis in the BBC soap opera EastEnders (2020–2022) and for winning the nineteenth series of Strictly Come Dancing with Giovanni Pernice in 2021, when she became the programme's first deaf contestant.
John Smith is a British comedian, actor and performer. He is deaf and a British Sign Language user.
