There are around 10,000 Australians whose hearing loss is so profound that they communicate with their hands. In this 1.5-hour workshop, you’ll pick up elementary skills for communicating with these people in your community. Learn to fingerspell, develop a vocabulary of basic conversational signs, and construct a sentence using simple Auslan (Australian Sign Language).

The workshop will also cover Deaf Gain, the idea that instead of “normalcy”, we should promote biocultural diversity. What might usually be viewed as a biological loss can be interpreted as individual and social gain, and a safeguard against monocultural vulnerability. “Deaf gain” replaces the term “hearing loss” to highlight the many ways deaf people and society in general have benefited from deaf people and signed languages.

Learn to conduct a symphony of conversation without opening your mouth.

What you'll get

  • A crash course in communicating with deaf and hard-of-hearing people

  • A basic understanding of Auslan

  • The skills to continue learning at home

  • Handouts (References) for:

    • Auslan fingerspelling (alphabet), basic Auslan signs, information regarding Deaf Culture.

what to bring

  • Just yourself and your chatty hands

Tickets

Be sure to check out our Terms & Conditions before grabbing a ticket.