The comedian and his son's journey into understanding BSL hit very close to home.
star and stand-up comedian John Bishop set himself the challenge of learning enough British Sign Language to perform a comedy routine as part of new ITV documentary,The decision was inspired by his son Joe, who started losing his hearing as a teenager, with the potential for it to be progressive over time. As a result, the show is as much about John’s journey learning BSL and reconnecting with Joe as it is his son finally embracing his Deaf identity.
So in expressing an initial reluctance to having his deafness mentioned in his father’s comedy sets, Joe’s experience hit a little close to home. It was the same distancing I practised when faced with this new, towering identity.When you’re presented with such information, you need the support of those close to you. But what’s rarely mentioned in discussions about this is just how important it is for this support is accessible to you.
This, we learn from the documentary, essentially meant the prevailing narrative surrounding Joe to begin with was one of just cracking on, rather than taking the time to process what this new identity means to him. All of that changed when Joe was introduced to members of the Deaf community through his BSL teacher, Bob, at a Deaf pub event.
In my case, regular communication with BSL signers gave me the confidence in my Deaf identity to ditch the curly haired look I sported to conveniently cover up my hearing aids. Now, with a shorter haircut, they are proudly on display, my BSL knowledge is now far more conversational.
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