Sign Language Program
Sign language is the primary language for people with hearing disabilities, it is their mother tongue, it gives them the means to express their thoughts and communicate with their surrounding environment.
Palestinian sign language is considered the corner stone for deaf culture in Palestine and which helped establish their independent identity. Year after year the language developed carrying with it, history of generations of people with hearing disabilities.
The sign language training program in ASDC welcomes all persons of the community with special emphasis on family members of people with hearing disabilities and other service provision staff members including doctors, social workers, private and public-school teachers, police officers and university students.
Aim of the Program:
The program aims to develop Palestinian sign language in a way which enhances and spreads sign language in order to ease communication and integration of people with hearing disabilities within their households and in the community as a whole. Bolstering the inclusion of people with hearing disabilities allows them to convey their thoughts and feelings and helps them in understanding their surroundings better therefore becoming an equal and important part of it.
The sign language training program works to:
- Implement beginners, intermediate and advanced level sign language training courses throughout the year.
- Conduct specialized academic sign language courses.
- Update and develop sign language enabling it to keep up with other languages.
- Offering sign language interpretation in courts, police stations, hospitals, etc.
- Take part in formulating pressure groups to advocate in support of people with hearing disabilities and spreading of sign language in addition to adaptation of public and private facilities to accommodate people with hearing disabilities
