Kids learn to relate to deaf people through storytelling

From: Channel News Asia, Singapore
Nov. 17, 2002

By Wong Siew Ying

The National Library Board has used body language in a storytelling workshop to promote awareness of the deaf community and its culture.

And children at the workshop at the Asian Children's Festival can now imagine what storytelling must be like for the hearing-impaired who can only rely on sign language and visual cues for the full picture.

But it's not just for the deaf.

The NLB says the use of body language in storytelling can also promote open expression, and most importantly, capture the children's attention.

Ahmady Masurie, founder/artistic director of Hi! Theatre, Singapore Theatre of the Deaf, said: "Sign language and gestures can help children to focus on what actors are doing and can understand the story through visual physical movement and gesturing."

Mey Ho, Volunteer-In-Charge, Singapore Association for the Deaf, said: "It will help them to understand their peers better because increasingly there are more deaf kids in mainstream schools, and they need to know how to relate to them."

The association has set up free hearing tests and an exhibition to teach the public about hearing maintenance.

Copyright © 2002 MediaCorp News Pte Ltd