When accessibility isn't prioritised, this can be the reality of being deaf at school 💔 - BBC

[@Kaia082]

My best friend is deaf, he’s always been sat at the back of the class then got detention for not paying attention even though he had no aids given to him

[@fiveelevenevan]

Screw tthat. My heart goes out to him.

[@Roadent1241]

I was always at the front, expected to lipread through spines and told off for Not Listening. I think they just hated us for existing.

[@Kaia082]

@@Roadent1241 exactly I don’t understand the unrealistic expectations people have of disabled people and at the time when it was at our second school I was being catered for for my disability which is so much harder to care for and he just couldn’t sit at the front of the class because it didn’t go with the seating plan, I mean that doesn’t make sense does it! Teachers are the worst

[@Kaia082]

@@fiveelevenevan 🩷

[@bacul165]

​@@Kaia082 What? Why would this happen??? I'm a teacher and at the beginning of the year I always ask if there's a specific reason any student require a certain place, like for seeing /hearing reasons. As far as i know i don't teach a hearing impaired student at the moment but most people who went into teaching actually like to teach and help kids/teenagers to improve so if they don't, it's usually because of some major admin f* up. Or they are broken/burnt out by the system

[@user00xj]

I’m deaf with Cochlear Implants, this is true, and it reality for deaf people who going to Mainstream school, I do my mainstream class, I find it hard but understood what Teachers said to me, sometimes they talk too quickly, I ask them to slow the talk down to get me processing the words properly. This need more awareness of Deaf people if they using sign language or speaker.

[@stargateproductions]

We had a school for the deaf and blind. They closed it and I've head folks say their quality of education has gone down because of it.

[@lullaby218]

Just get a speech to text generator.

[@arcaelum2022]

​@@lullaby218Speech to text generators may not work in classroom environments with lots of people.

[@Harry-bn5mp]

Whats the point of getting a cochlear if you still need an interpreter? Why not just focus on enjoying being able to hear and find ways to adapt?

[@Cjh190]

Me too!! 😊 I was born profoundly deaf with 2 cochlear implants. I don't do sign language as I can speak well and clearly. I got help from people to help me speak. I really appreciate them as i think I would be a complete different person if it wasn't for this amazing technology ❤

[@allieeekazam]

Video about accessibility, but no captioning on the video about a deaf teenager struggling with a lack of accessibility??

[@RedMoonSolitary]

Having captions would be against the point, though. They're trying to show this from a realistic and personal point of view. If you want to communicate with a deaf person in real life, captions are not always going to be at your beck and call.

[@fayej]

@@RedMoonSolitary you've completely missed their point. A lot of people, not even only deaf people, need captions to watch a video. The fact they've uplooaded a video about lack of accessbility without a very basic accessibility tool to help the very people it's about watch it is pretty ridiculous.

[@HerrChew]

​@@fayej I must be coming to this video later, because the video does have captions. The channel managers must have added it after, but it's good that the captions are on (and thankfully not auto-generated by Google either, cos those aren't always the best!)

[@aliaspen5115]

I came straight to the comments when i realized...smh Edit: English (uk) subtitles are available but the auto-generated ones are what come up as default. But when you switch over it looks like all the formatting was uploaded with the CCs so it looks like a bunch of gibberish mixed in with the actual transcript.

[@brettrigby2226]

now you know how he feels and you get it.

[@CassieDee21]

Waterloo road and the young actor playing Luca have done a fantastic job raising this issue. There needs to be more accessibility in schools and other places. As a BSL Level 3 learner, it’s important and learning this beautiful language was the best thing I’ve ever done.

[@Roadent1241]

And me being in this position - an 'aid wearer - but with no SL beyond a few basics and the alphabet or interpreter because I was 'too hearing' to be allowed to know anything of the deaf world, have just learned in my 30s that there's levels. Welp. I never see anyone use it anyway and mum barely did, she was the only other 'young' HoH person around for 50 miles who wasn't 70.

[@Sophie-im2jp]

Reasons like this is why i want to learn SL

[@Roadent1241]

@@Sophie-im2jp What's the point? Basically nobody uses it, or knows more than 2 signs.

[@pamelagonzalez8947]

Everyone should talk with their mouths and hands. That way, when you get deaf in your 70’s you could still communicate.

[@lullaby218]

Purple hair checks out. She must be a DEI hire.

[@poppy6794]

As a deaf kid, now uni student, this is exactly what it is like. Sometimes people make assumptions on what is 'accessible' without taking into account what you need. It is isolating and hard but it gets better. I have found the older i get the easier it is to advocate for myself, but as a kid in secondary school? almost impossible. finding BSL interpreters is near impossible and relying on 'hearing' is painful and difficult 😔❤

[@AschenDog]

People also tend to think of things like this as totally black and white and like you said, just assume the same solution fits for every person. And if you're unlucky, they have zero interest in learning more so they either just throw their hands up or start blaming you for someone else's accomodation not working.

[@Ingeman1337]

that almost made me cry. what a fantastic way to put focus on something. applause

[@hopebgood]

Exactly.

[@miyamagoo]

My aunt is an ASL interpreter and she tells me there should be more interpreters in the world to aid those, and my high school has added an ASL course which is amassing for those who should learn it.

[@CourtneyCha0s]

I took ASL for 2 years in high school. I still use it to this day to communicate with deaf or hard of hearing individuals I come across, usually while I'm working customer service jobs. I often find that I'm the only one around who knows anything. My signing isn't the best but it does the job. My current job gives people a bonus for being bilingual but they didn't count ASL as part of that and it's really sad.

[@declan_youtube]

@@CourtneyCha0s People should understand that visual languages *are languages!* I'm really sorry to hear that. Personally, I think it's more impressive to be able to sign than be able to speak in Spanish, German or whatever else.

[@IEatTheCure]

I remember learning bsl in primary, I still have a sheet somewhere and if I find it I want to try and remember them

[@travelonward1811]

Loves asl. I wanted to be an interpreter at one point. But the issue is money. As in they don't make enough of it. It's a fairly low end paying job. It's hard to entice people to do anything without being able to afford life. I wish they'd understand we've all got to live. More money means more interpreters. More interpreters means more communication. It's just hard to find a way to justify the same wage as Wendy's workers for a degree job.

[@kn33lb4todd]

I’m actually going to college to become an ASL interpreter! I decided to be an interpreter because of situations like this. Being inclusive and making everything accessible to everyone is not hard- it’s what is necessary, and unfortunately, it’s not what’s happening. Changes need to be made!

[@ElitaMaster125]

My sister is autistic and her school doesn't have the right support for her and it sucks, thank you for the visibility for disabled people

[@Mjbeswick]

Most regular schools would be hell for anyone moderately autistic.

[@IEatTheCure]

I even go to a asd school and still don’t feel listened to.

[@tsundereyoongi]

​@@Mjbeswick I can attest. Autistic kids zoned out and read the entire material for the term in one lesson, and ADHD kids caused havoc. Audhd kids probably just stared out the window or didn't turn up.

[@Jake-ef9rr]

@@tsundereyoongi As an AuDHD individual , i really just looked out the window when i was in school , i´m 22 now . I could not focus , often not understand what the teachers were saying (espechially couldn´t processing the words) . Teachers forced me to look them into the eyes while i was speaking , they got always mad when i didn´t do it and when i asked specific questions , they often said something similar to me like : "think again / read it again" and so much more sentences that didn´t help me at all. Eye contact is not for every autistic person a problem but for me it feels like a sharp pain , i can´t really describe the pain on its own . The moment i have eye contact with someone feels like a fuse starts burning at the beginning . The fire make its short way to the end of the fuse when i dont interrupt the eye contact . On the other End of the fuse is dynamite and when i dont "extinguish the fire" , the dynamite will explode in no time , which is in my case a shoutdown . My brother is the opposite of me with eye contact . He looks into peoples eyes the whole time , espacially people he dont now . Eye contact with people he doesn´t know , he almost stares into they souls haha . English is not my first language , so hopefully its easy to understand what i wrote . Have a good day !

[@panasado7886]

@@tsundereyoongiAuDHD here and I agree, windows were my best friends lol. I dropped out at 16, the school environment is too much

[@willcookmakeup]

This broke my heart. I had a few deaf coworkers at my last job and we had daily ASL lessons after the store closed at the end of the night. I absolutely loved learning and its not hard to pick up, and the way deaf peoples faces light up when they know you can is amazing. Our trader joes became the local deaf shopping hot spot. I guess word got around as we started getting a ton of deaf customers

[@immyownperson1375]

Used to be too scared to tell my parents I needed glasses. Gave up my morals, my social life, and my peace of mind for the sake of passing. Don't do it kids, get help. Don't be too ashamed or scared to speak of your troubles if they hinder your education.

[@insomniacsnorlax]

Same. What a dumb kid I was.

[@IEatTheCure]

@@insomniacsnorlaxyou weren’t dumb, you were just scared and that’s normal

[@wolffriendinus]

I had the opposite problem. I told my parents I couldn't read the board and they said to sit closer. I told them I'm at the front of the classroom and they didn't believe me. They thought I was lying until a teacher told them I needed glasses.

[@user-zg5ey5xo9i]

​@@wolffriendinusWhy would a kid lie about that? What's wrong with your parents?

[@calebclark1821]

Right, now imagine this but spread to every other kind of disability, disorder or impairment that young people have in our education system. It absolutely destroys us, everyone. Not to distract from this being a deaf issue, but nonstandard students are treated disgustingly.

[@dragonflies6793]

As a Deaf and disabled person, right on

[@milodoesntknow2090]

mentally and physically disabled here, had to leave school at a young age due to lack of accommodations. youre completely right.

[@leoniemaria1858]

@@dragonflies6793 hi, I'm an ENT doctor. may I ask what's the reason of your deafness? would a CI have been an option and if yes why didn't you get one (or do you have one)? For many of our patients it's making a major difference

[@naomiparsons462]

As an autistic person who went undiagnosed for all of school until GCSE, this is my life. I empathise so much with the boy in this video even though I'm not deaf because this IS how it feels to not be understood.

[@silverfeathered1]

You intentionally stated why it's a problem. There are just so many "non-standard" cases that every eventuality just cannot be afforded. In a world where teachers are on the lower end of annual salaries, thinning that out further just can't be sustained. The unfortunate reality is that "mainstreaming" isn't designed to accommodate the individuals, but for the individuals to learn to live in a world that doesn't.

[@artemisiou]

I can relate to this. I grew up as an autistic/ADHD person and so did my younger brother. We both got bullied and punished by detention for not being able to pay attention in class. I would always be shoved at the back of the class and never be offered any help when I needed it. The school went on to kick out my younger brother because he was ‘naughty’ and ‘didn’t want to learn’. This was absolutely devastating to his life and because of the huge change, he ended up dropping out of school completely. I kept going to school, college and even got a degree in university but I suffer from a lot of PTSD, anxiety and depression from the struggles of not being accommodated, being bullied and being punished for being autistic. It’s horrible that disabilities aren’t accommodated for in this day and age.

[@shannonrosewiley]

The same happened to me, Because of being on the low end if autistic spectrum, adha and other learning disabilities. Most main steam teacher didn't understand and would not follow my iep (individuals education plan), but most classes I was further ahead then the research room , so I was main stream for most of my classes. Only math and English could I use the research room. In elementary and jr. High school I was in a self contained classroom, but it was not the right class for be because kids with behavior issues would bother my adha and keep me for working on school work. In high school the school district I was in only had a self contained classroom for behavior issues and not learning disabilities, so I was going to have to switch to a different school district and be drive to school everyday or main stream out for must of the subjects and d go into research room . I chose to stay in the school district in the town I live in and to this today I wonder if I would of be better of switch to another school district for high school.

[@kai1671]

I think learning asl or any sign language is very important! This should be taught in every school

[@fabplays6559]

It would probably be more beneficial for BSL to be learned in England, and ISL in Ireland, than ASL.

[@ITR]

@@fabplays6559 They wrote "or any sign language" in their comment

[@maura_the_rose]

My cousin is blind and watching her struggle is so frustrating. People treat her like a child, when she’s completely a completely neurotypical (and very smart) 18 year old girl. Education should be accessible to everyone.

[@ma14.27]

Didn't talk in school for 8 years, I only answered yes/no questions and had many experts watch me and talk to me, even though none of them knew sh*t. Of course there was a lot of encouragement, but noone actually asked me how to make things better and easier for me, as everyone knew I could talk. Found out that I'm autistic with 20 years old, my childhood could have been awesome, if people just tried to change the environment and not me. Disabled people deserve better, there is no excuse!

[@alisonwilson6833]

It's dire! I'm so sorry you didn't get the support you needed and hope you can advocate for yourself as an adult. Best wishes.

[@sonicfan82]

Congrats on a diagnosis, and I hope that there will be more changes when it comes down to improvements on accessibility.

[@elsiearchives]

" my childhood could have been awesome, if people just tried to change the environment and not me." exactly! i thought i was the problem for so long when really i did not have the level of support i should have been given

[@fredh1720]

The bits with Luka were exceptional, one of the best things Waterloo Road has ever done. The bits with Billy are so melodramatic that it's almost impossible to have any sympathy for him. I cannot believe that any child in the world would behave the way he does.

[@JK_JK_JK_JK]

🙄

[@charlesterry2480]

What are you talking about

[@fredh1720]

​@@charlesterry2480 I'm talking about him refusing to say Shuey's name to his dad for no reason whatsoever, and him actually co-operating when Shuey says "be here at this time", instead of just...not turning up? Incidentally, his dad's a bit of a plonker for not already having suspicions that it might be Shuey. 90% of kids in the school seem to be aware.

[@charlesterry2480]

@@fredh1720 I’m sorry but you’ve lost me :/ I fail to see how that’s exceptional. I’d do the right thing

[@stephanieyee9784]

​@charlesterry2480 , the comment about being exceptional pertains to Luka. The other part about? and Shuey, isn't relevant to the thread, is saying it was an unbelievable scenario as in hard to believe. Does that help?

[@JusticeKimberly]

Bro it took me three minutes to realize that I’m not an idiot, he was just using BSL. I’m casually learning ASL, I was just like “why do I not understand anything he’s signing?!?!” Lol

[@daleernheartfan]

I can relate lol it's pretty cool to see different sign languages. I am fluent in ASL, and I am learning a bit of BSL at the moment, so it took me a few seconds to realized he was using BSL once I recognized some alphabets and I was like wow I got a long way to go. Also I gotta say this video hits hard since I have plenty of experiences like that in schools and life oof. I hope you are enjoying learning ASL!

[@idontneedaname318]

It's so funny it's like listening to dutch and not realizing it's not in English

[@JusticeKimberly]

@@idontneedaname318 I just listened to some Dutch, and honestly if I was only just starting to learn English and was really tired I might think it was English with a strong accent 😅

[@zombieoutbreakprod]

I always used to think sign language was universal and thought that was pretty cool as well as an obviously good idea. It seems kind of pointless/counter productive to have vastly different versions of it.

[@GmmBeast]

​@@zombieoutbreakprod That's like saying spoken language should all be the same. That's not how language works. It does vary vastly from country to country.

[@Aceofspades2006]

I know this isn’t about autism but I can really really relate to this.

[@janeykidd72]

Agreed, my son's primary school years were a battle. They didn't understand how to support him and when they did they just didn't have the resources.

[@Aurora_Animates]

Same

[@phoenixrose1192]

And ADHD 😞

[@azranger7294]

The way he sat at the end of a table full of people, entirely left out and unable to understand them...

[@Slapbattler666]

Me too

[@ItsSkyLOL]

The worst mistake that EVERY country tries to apply and keeps saying “but others do it too” is getting disabled kids in same classroom where it is hard for them to fit in and keep up rather than actually having i dont know.. some kind of groups in every city to have sign language or assisted classes for disabled people.. so they could improve but in their pace.

[@Think666_]

My wife faced this silent reality of having to rely on poorly written notes and often doubted if she fully grasped what teachers or lecturers were saying. She was offered little to no support (even her parents refused to use subtitles on TV) as she worked incredibly hard to overcome these challenges and became the remarkable person she is today, a director at a prestigious firm, dedicated to donating her time between multiple bodies which offer training and creating opportunities for the next generation. She tried aids and implants, but they weren't for her, and many meeting her for the first time don't realise she's deaf. While I'd love to see more support, the decisions made on the journey can be lasting and significantly influence the future, for good, or for bad.

[@PirateOfTheNorth]

In my country they have specialised schools for children with special needs. The downside is that they are isolated from society and society isn’t taught to be accepting of them. Society needs to change not those with special needs.

[@RDrawzDragonz]

EXACTLY !!! im disabled and society needs to change, not us. we cannot help being disabled but society can help us live easier lives by giving us accomidation and acceptance. Disability is so often an weakness pushed for the indivisual to deal with all on their own whilst in reality everyone needs to share the weakness, that accomidation would make our lives so much better. so often is is that disability is exacerbated by society's inaccesability.

[@deepfakes4567]

@@RDrawzDragonz As someone who is also disabled but go to a normal school I agree with you. Disabled people do not need to be seperated from society, society should accept them and let them in and like you said help us live life more easily.

[@Mjbeswick]

It's not just about acceptance. It's not always possible or economical. There might be just a few students year group which have special needs which is really hard to cater for. It costs a disproportionate amount and takes funding away from educating the majority of other students. Special schools make sense simply because of the economies of scale. When buildings have to be made physically accessible, it can be disproportionately expensive to provide adaptations for a fraction of the people who use the buildings. It does however, make a lot of sense when you have a building with many users that have special accessibility needs.

[@Robbedem]

That's just not realistic. Society can and should accomodate when achievable, but it can only do so much without being too much of a burden on everything else. So it will always be those with special needs that will need to adapt the most. I think it's much better to help them adapt instead of trying to change society.

[@orphanedhanyou]

Society needs to accommodate because we cannot tell everyone for instance they must become fluent in ASL or Chinese or any other language of they don't want to. That's just the fact of life.

[@kierielong975]

I really liked this video. More people need to be aware of the struggles that people with disabilities have. Sometimes they have unique needs and it’s not fair to keep them from learning or making them feel bad about themselves.

[@kierielong975]

I am not deaf but I always use subtitles because it is hard for me to distinguish the words unless the people are talking clearly and not mumbling or speaking in an accent or if there is any background noise. I can hear the volume of people’s voices just fine though. It’s the same for when I’m talking to people. I all go need them to face me when talking. Unfortunately there are no captions in real life!

[@dragonflies6793]

I'm Deaf in college right now. It's really rough. Sometimes I just don't know how I'm meant to go on at all

[@idontneedaname318]

Same situation. It's so miserable

[@snowyyyyyyyyyyyyy]

😔 society is at fault for being so inaccessible

[@YellinUpAStorm]

I love this! I am an ASL interpreter and it’s so right (also cool to see the BSL signs for things)

[@Sharki_iO]

This is why I learn BSL; incase any kids who are deaf come to my school, I’d never want them to feel alone.

[@orphanedhanyou]

That's nice but do you also learn Chinese and French so those kids don't feel alone too? Or is the real goal openness & compassion for people vs expecting everyone to conform to a minority language?

[@Ceeaad]

​@orphanedhanyou People have translators so that they can speak to people in a different languages. Sign languages do not(unless there is an interpreter).

[@once-lers-one-and-only]

I had a friend at school who was deaf and got detention because a teacher thought he had earbuds in. He explained to the teacher and she still didn’t believe him. We all reported her and she got fired that day

[@joyplummeridge6940]

There was an excellent article written bt Rona Tutt OBE, it's called when inclusion is exclusion.

[@fredh1720]

Hopefully it understands that a story about deaf people is not the same as a story *for* deaf people. It's a story everyone can learn from. That's the goal of inclusion surely.

[@csharpe5787]

Mainstream school are hopeless at accommodating children with special needs. It is just horrific no wonder SEND children stop going to school. And what’s worth when they get older and try to find a job, society will imply they just didn’t work hard enough.

[@Funhaus_Fr34k]

Very true to the real world, this is true for a number of disabilities tbh.

[@Greenpoloboy3]

Everytime I went to yt's homepage, the past 2 days, this has been recommended everytime. OK, KZbin Im watching it!!

[@Darkfur94]

This is absolutely heartbreaking, i firmly believe that sign language should be taught early in every school along with starter maths + English.

[@am_a_Muhammad]

Born deaf and had always wore Cochlear Implants since I was 2. I am now 18 and I relate to this kid a lot. I had never learn sign language but it was still difficult for me to be amongst a large crowd, especially when you can't listen properly to your peers. I remember when I moved school from a 'special needs class' to 'mainstream school' (normal class), it was really difficult. It was hard to adapt, as well as making friends, hell, I wasn't able to make friends for 2 years. When I moved school again, I decided to become more involved, and it worked. I am much more happier now then I was before, and I think sometime you do need help but ultimately, it's your decision to mold yourself to have a better life, better success, better everything. Yes, special needs are here but it won't be there forever. I left that years ago so I can handle without it, and I'm grateful. Any cochlear implants users, hearing aid users, deaf or even just anyone in general, keep moving forward and adapt.

[@orphanedhanyou]

Agree, that mindset is what will ultimately help people through any hardship

[@Kinich-f2p]

Dang dude I had same ur age and experiences

[@DealersChoice04]

There was a student like this in my school and i remember one of the teachers we had together went out of their way to learn sign language JUST TO BE ABLE TO HELP THEM it was amazing to see...

[@satanlucifer666]

Yeah this hits home im severely deaf and school was no walk in the park it no one ever taught me bsl so i never had an interpreter but i have used a radio it worked most of the time but it was faulty sometimes it didn't help that I have vision issues so sometimes when I could hear the teacher clearly i couldn't see the board i always sat at the front but alot of the time i still couldn't see my teachers were supposed to give me printouts of the work and an explanation of what i was supposed to do but that hardly ever happened i did have a ta help me in lesson every now and then but it was rare. One of my teachers sat me on the right side of the classroom and then proceeded to use the left whiteboard this happened multiple times i was moved to the left side and she used the right whiteboard she liked using colourful whiteboard pens eventhough she knew i couldnt see them. I once had a cover teacher sit me at the back of the class telling me that seating arrangements aren't important and that i didn't need to sit at the front for this lesso we were reading a science book and were supposed to answer questions which were written on the board she got irritated that i hadn't done the work she wanted ( i copied down an entire page of the book we were studying which technically answered the questions) she told me that i needed new glasses ( there expensive and even when i have a better prescription i still can't see very far its about 2 and half metres before things start becoming blurry )that i should pay better attention to her which was impossible because I couldn't see or hear her i tried asking for help but she completely ignored me. Sorry for the rant feel free to tell me your stories or ask me questions if you need any clarifications i hope this makes sense to everyone have a nice day.

[@gracecodd4378]

That is so frustrating. I'm so sorry you went through this. Teachers can be really horrible. I didn't struggle with hearing or vision (I have glasses, but they work for me), but I have a mental disability that I only got diagnosed with as an adult. I tried to go to the drs when I was in sixth form for it, but they dismissed it as me lying/exaggerating. My parents didn't believe me. And the only friend that was willing to help me through it decided I was lying for attention after the Dr told me I was imagining it. I asked my teachers multiple times for help but I was told "you can figure it out, youre a smart girl." I started having multiple anxiety attacks every day for months. Until I became so mentally ill that I couldn't leave my bed without having a panic attack. My parents dropped me out of sixth form and I stayed in my room for the next year. I don't even remember that year. All I remember is not being able to touch pencils, pens, or paper without breaking down, and my mum bringing food up.

[@korvet8482]

As a half deaf child who grew up in an inept school system in the US, this is 100% accurate. So much it's kind of scary. The aids they give are never enough, you have to be your own advocate, and still you're lucky if you understood what was said in class that day. I was expected to lipread Spanish. As someone who had never been taught sign language or how to lipread English, because the classroom was loud I was expected to just 'lipread' a language I was expected to be learning. Let that sink in a moment. I was given no help, not even a notetaker. 3 years into Spanish classes I still didn't know how to conjugate verbs correctly. The teacher puts Bs on all my assignments because she didn't want to help me and knew that was the lowest grade my parents would accept before they started asking questions and forcing her to accomodate my disability. I was 12. 20 years later I can partially speak and understand Japanese, Dutch and Norwegian. I am fluent in sign language, I want to start learning German next. I still hate Spanish (the language) with a passion because of the lack of help and accessibility.

[@wonderwoman5528]

Waterloo road is at its best when it’s making people think about issues

[@Someone_Girl]

I understood why he felt this way as someone who is deal and went through a similar issue during secondary, it can be hard. I had a new support worker who was not that great but she had just been learning sign language. And so had i. So even i didn't understood how to read sign language. I mainly pearned to lip read which was flippin hard as hell. Also when they wear these voice monitors are not as helpful as people think from a personal perspective, i am currently a college student and i tell to respecfully not bother, i just fugure it out. Loved luca so much very realatble💙💙💙 i figure things out

[@birb7353]

If you ever find the time and energy, it would be amazing if you could advocate for yourself and others to have better accommodations provided by your university. You deserve better. Still, it's hella impressive you're getting through uni on hard mode. Hang in there 💙

[@jackbirdsall8369]

I used to work in an OSHC (Out of school hours care service) service for a school that was bi linguistic for English and Auslan (Australian Sign language). The oshc was a third party provider, so not connected to the school. Not a single educator knew any Sign language and there wasn’t even a single visual prompt to support children that couldn’t communicate Audibly and verbally. It was embarrassing. I noticed something odd, the small handful of deaf children that did attend the service were all miserable. They never smiled, never took part in any of the activities and very rarely played with other kids or interacted with the staff. So I became the manager and turned things around. I learned sign language, recruited a staff member who was fluent, put visual prompts and boards up everywhere. I’m not saying everything I did was perfect, but seeing those “miserable” kids start to smile and more parents with deaf children started sending their children to the service because word of what I was doing to include children who different communication methods was getting out. I honestly feel like it was one my life’s biggest achievements, just making kids happy and included.

[@AimeeSC561]

Thank you for all the kind work you do for kids with disabilities. It's deeply appreciated ❤

[@StarryDreamer28]

I'm not completely deaf but do have a significant loss where I don't understand most words, epecially when I was in school. tried all the things and FM systems but even when I told teachers to turn it on half of them forgot or never gave it back. even harder since I was in a wheelchair. some things have gotten better but rarely is accessibility available

[@chaz2187]

This really does a good job of showing how difficult it is for a deaf person to fit in and socialise. It’s really hard, tiring and isolating. Part of the issue is that because we’re deaf we need to spend more energy picking up sounds and distinguishing speech from other sounds and then to piece together the speech into understandable and comprehensible words with meaning from context. Often times it’s without context and I found this makes it nearly impossible to understand a person. I have deteriorating hearing loss, but I used to have slightly better hearing. Compared to back then, I can definitely tell it’s so much harder by tenfold. It’s easily isolating being deaf.

[@theamazingbiff]

A totally different disability, but I had severe clinical depression in middle school. No one reached out to me, other than to lecture and punish me for my "attitude problem" and cratering grades. Schools really can be clueless unless a situation is convenient and cheap for the district. Ultimately that's all that matters.

[@mcmimitheanbutv]

To all of my deaf friends: I really hope you are alright. You are strong and I am proud of you

[@gorikrastev4408]

I'm deaf student. I'm from Bulgaria, and I grew up here. This is really saddening for me to see, because for me and many deaf kids I know (one of them, my classmate, and others, my friends) it was the opposite. My parents decided to try putting me in mainstream school from Grade One. The teachers were understanding, and the school was accommodating. I've gotten great grades and the teachers have always been willing to repeat when I don't understand the said. Now I'm in 11th grade, having gotten the previous national examination with very high results, and I gotta say, despite some bumps, my education has been going very smooth - I never needed special attention beyond repeating, and one-two years when we were testing, the teacher to wear an object to transmit sounds to my hearing aids (which I could adjust to my liking, so it was never too loud or quiet) tho for the last 5 years I've been going without it.

[@WhichDoctor1]

Im not deaf, but i firmly believe that sign language should be taught as a second language in all schools. Do French or Spanish or whatever if you like. But all children should be taught sign. Not only would it massively improve the lives of all hearing impaired people immediately. Both deaf children in school, but also elderly folks with hearing loss which we will pretty much all suffer with if we are lucky enough to live a long life. It would be a far more useful language for hearing people to know. Everyone finds themselves in situations where it's too loud to be heard like at a noisy bar or on construction sites, or where you are trying to communicate stuff to people a distance away without shouting. Im sure it would get vastly more active use in the UK than pretty much any foreign language which would result in more young people gaining at least a degree of fluency in it instead of just slogging through A level French in class and then immediately forgetting 90% right afterward. And of course once youve learned one second language to fluency it's far easier to learn more

[@orphanedhanyou]

Statistically I don't know if it would have that much active use hence why it's not a language most attempt fluency in.

[@snowyyyyyyyyyyyyy]

thank alexander graham bell for the lack of sign language education ! it's pretty awful how much he hated deaf people for being unable to hear, he's one of the reasons oralism is so prominent in education

[@Astrid-88]

Also apparently babies are able to learn sign language faster than spoken language (motor skills develop faster than speech) so if everyone knew sign language it would be possible to teach children communicate their needs ealrier in life, which in the end would create society with less mental issues (a lot of mental issues orgins from being missunderstood and neglected in early childhood).

[@judil3294]

I'm 73 and just got my first hearing aids two weeks ago. I was not completely deaf but the difference is astounding.

[@helixxia9320]

❤️

[@ByAnnieBasson]

I've always said (especially since secondary school) BSL should be the additional language. Not everyone can afford to go to another country, but anyone could become deaf. I worked in a SEN school and learnt makaton. I loved it and loved how it allowed communication amongst different types of people

[@orphanedhanyou]

Statistically I don't think your argument holds up especially when the goal would be fluency

[@mrflyingcheesychips]

Since the BBC can't caption properly, I'll transcribe the conversation on 0:17 - 0:37 Luca: "What level BSL are you?" (serious) Jess: "Me?" (confused) Luca: "Yeah" (direct) Jess: "BSL Level 1" (rude) Luca: "One! This is GCSE!" (angry) I'm learning BSL myself, so please let me know if there are any mistakes :) Hope this helps!

[@recklessrex]

Hey from a non-brit, what is GCSE

[@bigbird4481]

@@recklessrex I'm American but this is what Google said "a qualification in a specific subject typically taken by school students aged 14-16, at a level below A level."

[@mrflyingcheesychips]

@@recklessrex GCSE is like an end of school exam to prove you are like clever enough to go into work. Sort of like end of high school assessment 🙂

[@chief4923]

wait guys i dont get why he was angry, did it need to be asl or bsl but in a higher level?

[@recklessrex]

@@chief4923 basically they gave him a beginner level translator in a situation where he really needs to know what's going on

[@lloyd_iscool]

I’m deaf and I completely understand this struggle, most teachers are rubbish and even my friends forget I can’t hear slightly. (I’m partially deaf not fully)

[@Teacosyteapot]

Your teachers will want to know, tell them. If you behave like everything is fine, they'll think it is. They can't read your mind.

[@lloyd_iscool]

@ I tell them all the time and they hardly do anything?? And I know they can’t read my mind.

[@Teacosyteapot]

@@lloyd_iscool that's a real shame. Don't be deterred, keep speaking up, teachers become teachers because they want to work with young people. Request a meeting with someone with more authority like a head of year or assistant head, and explain what's happening. Good luck!

[@lloyd_iscool]

@@Teacosyteapot thank toy so much! I will keep trying as I normally do, and I’m glad you understand.

[@rhianrs86]

It made me cry, im not deaf but i felt what he feels, i know that feeling, it hurts that people are different in a special way but we all feel the same way

[@SimmsLive]

Theres no audio description on this. But its a start

[@mqxogames]

AD, BSL and Subtitles are all available for full episodes of Waterloo Road on the iPlayer, it's not wholly reasonable to take the time to do them for these short clips I don't think, though thats definitely a point of opinion.

[@wren.kitchens]

⁠@@mqxogamesI mean the whole point of the video is that accessibility is ignored and therefore disabled people cannot operate at the same level of abled people for entirely preventable reasons. the fact that this video *about* being limited by lack of accessibility can’t be understood to the full extent because of a lack of accessibility is ironic at best

[@SimmsLive]

@@mqxogames While I understand your point. They could always upload multiple versions of the clip to ensure it's inclusive, especially if it's available elsewhere.

[@lisaistryingtolive]

they are available now

[@BossySwan]

Luca is so unbelievably cute

[@ShaquilleOatmeal842]

😐

[@micellaragua]

@Peakplatypushis actor is in his 20s and has a kid so he’s lucky

[@jodiebryant2409]

I'm a foster carer, and I have asked the agency I work with to look into someone to come in and teach us carers BSL. We never know what communication barriers we could encounter with a young person that comes into our care. I was informed last week that the agency is looking for someone to come in and teach us.

[@alisonwilson6833]

Well done! 👍🏼

[@dimg23]

Already in love with him, can't wait to see more of Luca in the series.

[@hopebgood]

What a wonderful, thought provoking vid. ❤👍👏

[@MartinBlackwoodofficial]

Ive got semi severe apd. this is how it feels for me alot of the time. School is never set up for people with hearing issues. At least my mates know basic sign language or to type stuff out if im havinf a bad day with it, but it just sucks at school

[@luciepiriou4678]

Hi, I think I have apd but I don't know how to proceed with it at 23 years old. Do u have any advice u can give me?

[@alisonwilson6833]

In case anyone is wondering APD is Auditory processing disorder. Martin I'm sorry for your struggles with the lack of provision you need. Well done to your friends for their desire and attempts to communicate with you. I'm sure you really appreciate them. 👍🏼

[@IceNixie0102]

This is heartbreaking. Well done, BBC.

[@donnamcdonald-g8n]

It's not much better for Autistic kids either. I could 'hear' the teacher, but the words did not make sense and I didn't get the chance to figure it out before the teacher was chatting on about something else. Autistic girls were not a 'thing' in the 80s. I'm Mensa with IQ of 135, so not stupid either.

[@mapl3mage]

worth noting that not all deaf people know sign language.

[@alisonwilson6833]

Indeed and that's why it's vital to prioritise teaching EVERYONE deaf awareness not only sign language!

[@micellaragua]

There’s another character in the show who’s losing his hearing and he said he’s learning sign

[@Robomedi]

As someone who is hearing impaired, I can understand the frustrations shown in this video. I was on the SEN register in a mainstream school and the adjustments in the classes were minimal to none exsistent. However, when I would spend the afternoon outsode of the mainstream school with other children with hearing loss, it was a much more suitable environment and you felt you were no longer isolated. These experiences had so much of an impact of me growing up, I now campaign for some staff to be trained in Level 2 BSL in my current job as the BSL I have learnt growing up has been utilised to help commicate with and triage deaf patients.

[@ryankelley5160]

Judging from the style of the teacher, she's an absolute "joy" to be around.

[@yusaki8064]

I’m learning BSL at the moment. I hope I can eventually get to an interpreter level.

[@MC_cyjh]

Best of luck !!

[@dmills7080]

I feel this in my soul. Excellent video showing the isolation, the depth and hard of hearing go through.

[@munkiesyeah]

Wow, I’m hearing impaired but have always managed to live without needing to sign. The part where the teacher’s voice is still muffled even with the extra device is exactly what hearing aids do for me. The messy mumble of speech is only louder, not clearer 😢 When I was at school, quite some time ago now, I still struggled to read at the age of 11. Partially due to my untreated hearing loss and partially due to a learning difference. Life sucks on many levels when you’re a child who doesn’t function 100% “correctly”.

[@ajnumbers4356]

The fact is that this is real, I'm deaf (& wear hearing aids) - even if I communicate in spoken english because I was lucky to learn that, growing up & communication & learning was still a huge difficulty because its hard to hear. If a student is in GSCE they need the best helpers - not a level 1 signer, that shouldn't even be allowed, if a student is struggling, they need help and time, and if a student is telling you that something is wrong with the device, then It is. And go fix the damn thing

[@babyt556]

My mom taught me basic ASL it even helped me learn how to remember to spell my name neither of us is deaf she just learned it on her own and taught it to me and I teach what I know to my kids. I thought about taking a course to fully learn and seeing this makes me want to even more. I remember we had assignment introducing brail as well. I appreciate my school for at least showing us different forms of communication especially for those who may have lost their hearing or eyesight but I do feel like if it’s not a mandatory thing to learn to at least make it an extra curricular activity in school same way they have Spanish and other languages offered in schools

[@jaconbran2367]

Other accessibility issues can feel similar especially other communication conditions like like autism, sometimes autistics need support workers who depending their specific needs often act to translate social situations among other things

[@The_Almighty_Meepers]

Please. Please teach sign as a second language all the way through school. It will benefit everyone I guarantee you.

[@OsirusHandle]

its one more thing that must be taught. people already fail their language exams very regularly

[@mrcoolwarrenallen5576]

I am deaf with hearing aids, i can understand how other people feel, i do not have interper probably as my interper left the job about 2 months about and i feel like alone the way Luca did, Bravo luca!

[@Beckford4000]

My best friend is hearing impaired (totally deaf in one ear only) and he has no implants, aids or anything to help. I have to be aware and take steps, e.g. sit on the same side of him. One of the things I have to do quite often, is ask cafes to turn the music down or off, because he can't hear what I'm saying. He's in his 40s and is quite introverted because of growing up like this. It's disgusting that schools still can't accommodate differently abled children.

[@addictedfoolgamer1970]

“I’m trying to fit in” 😢

[@cherylmiller732]

That is real life deaf guy had own KZbin or fb channel. It should caption for hearing yo understand us better for future .

[@betty5064]

When deafness is well dealt wih, it can be an advantage to all. My friend's daughter started Gr. 1 with a totally deaf child in the class. .By the end of the year, everyone in the class was bilingual in sign language. They stayed together for years and this was, in all other aspects, a normal class.

[@Pelangi21]

This is so heartbreaking

[@lydiastormberg1075]

I love how they are showing the FM system which is the microphone the teacher has on. I use the microphone at school and I love the show talks about it

[@coolguy-lc3tw]

I just realise that people who are deaf dont get the luxury just as some deaf children who get all assistance. wow man

[@MrChalmers99]

This is one reason why as a music teacher I learnt to use some sign language in my classroom!

[@susySoravia]

I was lucky. I had a teacher who sit with me and write down what is being said. Then we have free class together to make sure I understood everything. Now we have subtitles glasses. Speech to text. Subtitles on screens. So many new tech stuff coming out to help deaf people. Sometimes being in a group it can be a lonely place sometimes without communication as we cannot lip read everyone same time

[@audreemaurice4899]

This is so sad I’m in wheelchair and I can relate with his struggles about accessibility. So many stores have zero access for me and it’s suck . Do better to make our live easier please

[@Thehiddenmoran]

That's unfortunately the way it is in this terrible world. If you're different in any way at all, teachers have absolutely no patience with you, and then you're ignored completely so that no matter how smart you are, you are denied the opportunity to get anywhere. I know.

[@violetjensen3783]

just learned i have permanent hearing damage yesterday… this will be fun

[@mollyperlot8786]

I went deaf earlier this year. This has been my experience.

[@deaf-boy48]

That poor deaf lad I felt sorry for him having a level 1 BSL interpreter he should have had a level 3 interpreter gods sake 😢

[@felicitygee381]

My friends kid is deaf and the school claimed during Covid that it had no funding or provisions to provide elearning for deaf students. All they had to do was ask teachers to provide handouts, or send the lesson plans to her daughter. Her Mum raised concerns and asked for contact details for the teachers, but was told all her teachers were aware she was deaf. Turns out they weren't, she found out at year end, at the 5 minute teacher parent meetings, the school lied to her.

[@hollie_marie]

When I was at college we had a deaf student in my class and the teacher used to give the teaching assistant the work first and she would explain it to him. He had a cochlear implant but also an assistant. He got extra support in that his assitant wasnt knowledgeable on the classes so anything he was struggling with ths assistant would say to the teacher if there was any more visual aids or resources or could he have more time for the coursework. As hearing people we can make notes and listen but deaf people dont get that opportunity so being given more time to process the information I think would be beneficial and having someone to talk to seperate from the class like an advocate. He never really spoke the kid in our class but we all wanted to work with him we loved him

[@kumoric]

why are the subtitles so messed up? a video about accessibility and the subtitles are just gibberish

[@kumoric]

@@Frostbyte501 i know, but they should review it at least

[@arisha_narwhals13]

i could at least understand luca's dialogue and honestly that was enough for me

[@kumoric]

@@arisha_narwhals13 well you might, but i need subtitles because i have difficulties processing dialogue, and i kinda need to understand what everyones saying

[@TaoBear204]

You are right when the closed captioning is set to English (auto-generated) it is complete garbage. I don’t understand why KZbin even offers it as it is universally terrible. But I found that another option that is called English (United Kingdom) that works really well. Touch the settings wheel at the top right, go down to captions and change it there! Hope this helps!

[@kumoric]

⁠@@TaoBear204They’ve fixed the English (United Kingdom) captions now. They were complete gibberish of random symbols and letters before. But I disagree about the auto-generated ones, even if it sometimes messes up it’s usually pretty accurate and helps me quite a bit, and it’s important that KZbin offers these captions because most creators are too lazy to make their videos accessible.

[@sarahprice659]

I often have trouble keeping up and understanding everything, and my hearing is “perfect”

[@DuskstarShine]

I recently started learning BSL though classes in vr though helping hands a couple months back. I'm not hard of hearing or def but I've always wanted to learn so if I ever did meet someone that was I could still be able to make friends with them and maybe be one extra person they know that can understand. Ive learnt spanish on my own for years but even though I've only been attending the vr BSL classes for about 3/4 months once a week i can already comunicate way better than I can in spanish. I guess its just the things they teach are much more usefull than when trying to learn on your own ^-^ The def and hoh community in helping hands is so kind and open, and the fact all the BSL, ASL, LSF, and all the other sign launguage classes are free! Where as learning in a class in person costs a LOT. I cant imagen how bad it must be in schools being def or hoh, im so happy BSL is now gonna be part of the secondry school launguage options! I always wanted to growing up, im in uni now so it wont effect me, but hopefully it will help a lot more people learn easier and free in the future ^-^

[@alisonwilson6833]

Well done. Another reason some people find it easier to learn sign language than a spoken language is that many of us learn visually far more easily than by hearing/auditory learning and by actions. There's an old proverb: "I hear, I forget; I see, I remember; I do, I learn." Best wishes for your learning journey 👍🏼

[@DuskstarShine]

@@alisonwilson6833 thanks so much! And yea, i defenetly am better at visually learning, and just like prounouncing words in a spoken launguage, some signs are also really fun too ^-^ its been lovely so far, thanks for the encoragement!

[@alisonwilson6833]

You're very welcome. Thanks for replying 🫶🏼

[@JL-uf9py]

My partner and I are hearing impaired and this is beyond accurate. Trying to explain face me when I am lip reading and interpreters need to be of quality.

[@juliareck2124]

Ich bin zwar selbst nicht taub, kann aber als Mensch mit Behinderung die Situationen und besonders die letzten Szenen so stark nachempfinden😢

[@Icylit._.Fervour]

Exact feeling when you don't understand someone's language and feel isolated among them.

[@hellobot67]

I only know like 20 or 30 words in ASL, but " together" and "frustrated" was very clear! The hell? why did they move him.

[@Vol-Tear]

"am sorry but we are not your old school" Way to Side step the problem -_-

[@orphanedhanyou]

But every school cannot have the same level of specialized aids & training as a deaf school. Statistically & financially its not realistic.

[@shadrake13]

It took me half way through the video to realise this is from Waterloo road and not a deaf charity ad 😅

[@user-ch7hp2oc7w]

This broke my heart into a million pieces 💔 😢

[@NETHER_NINJA]

This sounds like it would be really distressing

[@chisaten]

I felt connected to this in a different way. I have hyperacusis (extremely sensitive hearing), noxacusis (pain caused by sound), and high-functioning autism. If I am in a crowd of people, sound blurs together and I have trouble hearing anyone. Along with that; when sounds make me wince, shout in surprise, or go into sensory overload and be unable to speak or breathe easily, people can call that faking. Even people who do care really can't understand what I have to live through.

[@inthesensethat12348]

This kid is a wonderful actor. Is this a part of a longer show? If so, what is it? I love this so much.

[@Samuel2k10]

It’s Waterloo Road (Series 14). 🙂

[@e.j.thomas9994]

This shouldn't be the case. My dad's mum was totally deaf, due to a bomb going off very close to the friend's house she was visiting. The blast blew all the windows and the back door in. They hid under the kitchen table. The shockwave damaged her ear drums. Eventually, she was totally deaf. Me and my mum learned basic sign language and fingerspelling. I still practice regularly. I think BSL should be taught in schools as a standard lesson, like French or German for instance.

[@Rdac0]

This video goes hard when I'm watching it on a small corner of my screen at 0 volume

[@rehanhossainalim6038]

Well my school has a group dedicated to this and actually prioritises them. They made the DSB (deaf support base) and CSB (child support base). They’re dedicated to the children that has disabilities!

[@Knappa22]

Fund education properly then. Sometimes there are no available teachers to even cover a class of 30 pupils.