How learning sign language changed my life after a brain injury

Tina is all smiles when she steps on stage in front of hundreds of people.

He receives his British Sign Language (BSL) certificate, which is the culmination of a journey that started with tragedy.

“Learning BSL helped me say words I couldn’t speak,” he says.

Tina fell down the stairs while returning from holiday in 2018 and was in a coma for six weeks.

The accident caused a traumatic brain injury that changed his life significantly and left him having difficulty speaking.

Before her fall, Tina was very successful; She and her husband Mark met while he was working as a sailor in the RAF and Tina went on to retrain as a solicitor.

Now 59, Tina says learning sign language has given her a new way to communicate.

“Sometimes I’m afraid to speak, but BSL has helped me relax because sometimes I can remember the sign when I can’t remember a single word.”

Three years ago Tina and Mark moved to Hughenden Gardens Retirement Village in High Wycombe to access more support.

“When I came here I only talked a little and was very quiet because I wasn’t very confident,” Tina explains.

However, as a result of moving to the village, they became participants in the BBC series. Rose Ayling-Ellis: Old Hands, New TricksIt was filmed in March, aiming to explore how British Sign Language can transform the lives of older residents.

The series sees Rose, who has been deaf since birth, teaching BSL to a group of elderly residents and demonstrating how she uses visual sign language, using gestures, facial expressions and body language to communicate.

“People think sign language is just for deaf people, but it’s so much more than that, especially for people who have lost their hearing,” Ayling-Ellis said. he explains.

“BSL has helped Tina communicate so you can better understand your face, expressions and emotions as well as your hands,” says Mark, 64.

He is one of five residents to achieve the Level 1 BSL qualification, along with several staff members.

“I’m so proud of them,” Ayling-Ellis says. “I didn’t think they could get beyond the alphabet, but they proved me wrong and they should be proud of themselves.”

After the documentary, Tina continued learning BSL through lessons taught by her husband.

Although he never intended to teach, Mark now holds regular practice sessions with 20 people after appearing in the series.

“We have raised some money to find a suitable instructor to teach us, but as well as formal lessons I run a group where I test people for a few hours each week,” says Mark.

The pair benefited greatly from learning BSL, but it was “surprisingly tiring”.

“I’m fit and healthy and I was still finding it difficult to move forward – we were exhausted about it,” says Mark.

Lessons were held three times a week, and homework and revision were done in the evenings. The group started by learning the alphabet and numbers, which came in handy when residents hosted a signature bingo night.

The lessons were also helpful in unexpected ways.

“We realized we could sign to communicate things to each other privately during medical appointments,” explains Mark.

Since the release of the documentary, the couple have helped Hughenden Gardens become a center for deaf awareness.

“We run deaf classes, build links with local deaf communities and research new technologies to help people with hearing problems,” says Mark.

A monthly Deaf Café has opened and a group of 29 people from the Jewish Deaf Association will visit the village later this month.

According to Mark, this has also brought residents closer together and fostered a sense of community, because “there is nothing better than challenges to make a team thrive”.

The impact is felt far beyond Hughenden.

Mark says: “We have had a number of interesting visitors since March – one from Canada and another in a retirement village who have a deaf club with 20 people, all learning BSL.

The retirement village is now focusing on how to be more inclusive of the deaf. Plans include deaf awareness training for all staff, new deaf-friendly entrance intercoms, improved signage and the introduction of SignLive, a deaf-directed video interpreting app.

As Mark continues to transform the care home, Tina is pleased that BSL has helped her regain her confidence and improve her communication.

And the ripple effect continues. “Our whole family watched the documentary,” says Mark.

“And people are coming up to us on the streets and saying we’re inspiring people to take up this issue.”