Latest news with #deafawareness
New York Times
23-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
A Deaf Actress Has a Message She Wants You to Hear
When Rose Ayling-Ellis is lip reading, she's guessing most of the time. 'You can get the shape of a mouth,' she said recently, but to understand what someone is saying, context is everything. 'You have to pick up body language, the mood, the vibe,' she said. Ayling-Ellis, 30, said that learning to lip read had been 'a survival technique.' The actress, who was born deaf, speaks and also uses British Sign Language, and was aided in an interview by an interpreter. In the TV crime thriller 'Code of Silence,' which arrives on Britbox on July 24, Ayling-Ellis plays a deaf woman who is recruited by the police to eavesdrop discreetly. In the show, as in life, she said, lip reading is 'like a puzzle.' When Ayling Ellis's character, Alison, watches CCTV footage of suspected gang members, she scrutinizes their facial expressions and observes how they stand. Like any good detective, Alison must study the scene, piecing together clues. In a clever visual conceit, jumbled subtitles appear onscreen and gradually unscramble as she decodes each sentence. 'Code of Silence' first screened on ITV in Britain in May, and its debut episode drew over six million viewers, according to the broadcaster. Ayling-Ellis was already known to many from 'Strictly Come Dancing,' the wildly popular BBC show that inspired the 'Dancing With the Stars' franchise. She won the show in 2021 with a routine, to Clean Bandit and Zara Larsson's 'Symphony,' that fell silent halfway to mirror her experience of being deaf. That victory made her a household name and landed her TV presenting gigs, including as a sportscaster at the 2024 Paralympic Games. But after being 'on the TV as myself quite a few times,' she said, she wanted to get back to acting. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
BBC News
07-07-2025
- General
- BBC News
Sign language boards for Leeds playgrounds
Children in Leeds are being encouraged to learn sign language, with educational boards being put up in playgrounds across the boards showing the British Sign Language (BSL) alphabet and a selection of words have been placed in 10 play areas with the aim of helping youngsters communicate. The Leeds Deaf Children's Society, which successfully applied for a grant to fund the boards, said it would help those unable to hear feel "less isolated" among their Hughes, from the society, said: "We needed to use the money to improve the communication skills of local deaf children and we thought putting the signs in parks was a way we could reach as many families as possible." Ms Hughes explained: "Our son is profoundly deaf and wears cochlear implants. "When he's not wearing them, we sign with him and it's important he has an additional way of communicating with us, and also with other deaf people."The sign language boards have been installed in children's play areas at Pudsey Park, Horsforth Hall Park and Bramley Park, as well as in Yeadon Tarnfield Park and Stanningley Park. They have also been placed in Springhead Park in Rothwell, Heritage Village, Blands Avenue in Allerton Bywater, Cross Flatts Park and East End councillors Helen Hayden and Mohammed Rafique said: "The new signs are a great improvement to the playgrounds, encouraging interaction between all children, deaf and hearing. "Learning basic BSL is useful to any person, and we're hoping this will reach many local families and help them learn a new language." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Wall Street Journal
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
With Israel's Major Airport Shut Down, Citizens Scramble to Get Home
When Shay Bialik and her husband, Ido Dembin, left their nine month-old baby to attend an Israeli-Palestinian peace conference in Paris, they thought surely they'd be back in time for a meeting with doctors to discuss a surgery that could give their deaf daughter a chance to hear. But a few hours after they landed, Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran. Its skies are now closed indefinitely. 'I would swim to Israel to make sure we make it on time,' said Dembin.
The Independent
23-05-2025
- Health
- The Independent
TikTok star died after ‘failure' by mental health services, inquest finds
A coroner flagged 'failure by mental health services' to manage the risk to a deaf TikTok star who died after ingesting a poisonous substance she ordered online. Imogen Nunn, 25, died in Brighton, East Sussex, on New Year's Day 2023, having had struggles with her mental health since she was 13. Ms Nunn was born deaf, raising awareness of hearing and mental health issues on her social media accounts, which attracted more than 780,000 followers. On Friday, the inquest at West Sussex Coroner's Court in Horsham, heard that proper safeguarding measures were not put in place after Ms Nunn told a nurse she had bought chemicals for use in suicide. Senior coroner Penelope Schofield said: 'There was a failure by the mental health services to manage her risk by failing to review her care plan following a suicide attempt in October 2022. 'Failing to put in place safeguarding measures following being advised that Immy had accessed the pro-suicide website and disclosed that she had purchased chemicals to use in suicide, and failing to have a face-to-face appointment with Immy on December 30 2022 to assess her risk.' The coroner also underlined a backdrop of 'systemic challenges' with the number of British Sign Language interpreters across various UK industries and has indicated she will be writing to multiple government departments. The coroner said: 'This is on a background of systemic, longstanding and well-documented challenges in the provision of mental health for deaf patients, with particular emphasis on the national shortage of BSL interpreters and the difficulty this presents for patients to be able to communicate their distress when their mental health is deteriorating or they are in crisis.' An expert from the National Register of Communication Professionals working with Deaf and Deafblind People (NRCPD) earlier told the inquest that failing to provide proper translation for deaf people could amount to a breach of human rights. In light of this, Ms Schofield found an 'arguable breach' of Article Two, and has commissioned a second 'prevention of future deaths' report. 'Immy's death underscores these systemic challenges,' she added. The court previously heard Ms Nunn ordered a lethal chemical substance online on November 14, which was delivered to her home address on November 21. She had contacted her support worker at the deaf adult community team on November 23 and told them she had 'bought something online that she planned to take to end her life'. While the police were contacted, and they visited Ms Nunn's address, no long-term changes were made to her care plan, the inquest heard. Three days before Ms Nunn's death, on December 29 2022, Ms Nunn received a check-in visit at her home from care professionals, after sending a text message saying she had had an increase in suicidal thoughts. She had also sent a message to her therapist saying 'I want to be admitted to hospital I can't keep myself safe', the same day. No BSL interpreter was taken to the meeting as there was not sufficient time to arrange one. The inquest into Ms Nunn's death had to be adjourned for two months because there were no BSL interpreters available to translate for two deaf witnesses in March. The coroner also noted 'discrepancies' in the note keeping from Ms Nunn's care co-ordinator Ray McCullagh. Ms Schofield said: 'There were issues around the lack of record keeping from nurse McCullagh. 'I am not going to address each of the occasions where it appears there has been a discrepancy The discrepancies showed a failure in care, but did not undermine the therapeutic relationship in Ms Nunn's case, the inquest heard. Ms Schofield has proposed to write to the cabinet office, the Department for Education, Department for Work and Pensions and Department of Health and Social Care about the 'systemic' issues underlined by the inquest. The coroner thanked Ms Nunn's family for the 'dignity' they showed throughout the process. 'Hopefully some good will come out of this and people will listen and changes can be put into place,' she said. Remembering her daughter, Louise Nunn said: 'Immy was our rainbow – she would make you feel so special whenever she was around and her heart was filled only with love.'
Daily Mail
23-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Deaf TikTok star who died after taking poison was failed by mental health services, coroner says
A deaf TikTok star who died after taking a poisonous substance that she ordered online was failed by mental health services, a coroner said. Imogen Nunn, 25, died in Brighton, East Sussex, on New Year's Day 2023, having struggled with her mental health since she was 13. Ms Nunn, who was born deaf, raised awareness of hearing and mental health issues on her social media accounts, which attracted more than 780,000 followers. She ordered a lethal chemical substance online on November 14, which was delivered to her home address on November 21. Three days later, she contacted her support worker at the deaf adult community team and told them she had 'bought something online that she planned to take to end her life'. While the police were contacted, and they visited Ms Nunn's address, no long-term changes were made to her care plan, an inquest at West Sussex Coroner's Court in Horsham heard. At the inquest on Friday, Senior coroner Penelope Schofield said: 'There was a failure by the mental health services to manage her risk by failing to review her care plan following a suicide attempt in October 2022. 'Failing to put in place safeguarding measures following being advised that Immy had accessed the pro-suicide website and disclosed that she had purchased chemicals to use in suicide, and failing to have a face-to-face appointment with Immy on December 30 2022 to assess her risk.' The coroner also underlined a backdrop of 'systemic challenges' with the number of British Sign Language interpreters across various UK industries and has indicated she will be writing to multiple government departments. The coroner said: 'This is on a background of systemic, longstanding and well-documented challenges in the provision of mental health for deaf patients, with particular emphasis on the national shortage of BSL interpreters and the difficulty this presents for patients to be able to communicate their distress when their mental health is deteriorating or they are in crisis.' An expert from the National Register of Communication Professionals working with Deaf and Deafblind People (NRCPD) earlier told the inquest that failing to provide proper translation for deaf people could amount to a breach of human rights. In light of this, Ms Schofield found an 'arguable breach' of Article Two, and has commissioned a second 'prevention of future deaths' report. 'Immy's death underscores these systemic challenges,' she added. Three days before Ms Nunn's death, on December 29 2022, Ms Nunn received a check-in visit at her home from care professionals, after sending a text message saying she had had an increase in suicidal thoughts. She had also sent a message to her therapist saying 'I want to be admitted to hospital I can't keep myself safe', the same day. No BSL interpreter was taken to the meeting as there was not sufficient time to arrange one. The inquest into Ms Nunn's death had to be adjourned for two months because there were no BSL interpreters available to translate for two deaf witnesses in March. Ms Schofield has proposed to write to the cabinet office, the Department for Education, Department for Work and Pensions and Department of Health and Social Care about the 'systemic' issues underlined by the inquest. The coroner thanked Ms Nunn's family for the 'dignity' they showed throughout the process. 'Hopefully some good will come out of this and people will listen and changes can be put into place,' she said.
