The UK’s first BSL-inclusive street paves the way for deaf children to be included on Halloween

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For the majority of children Halloween means spooky costumes, spine-chilling decorations and an evening of fun trick or treating, but it can be a different story for the deaf community.

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New research by Cadbury Fingers found that 79% of deaf children feel like they’re missing out on the fun of Halloween and nearly half (45%) have skipped festivities altogether through fear of not being understood. The darkness, mask-wearing and a lack of British Sign Language (BSL) use all makes lip reading and communication more difficult than ever on 31st October.

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In a drive to make the celebrations more inclusive, Cadbury Fingers and the National Deaf Children’s Society have created the UK’s first BSL inclusive street, reaching 99% of households on a road in Worcester, showing how to engage with the deaf community at Halloween.

The UK’s first BSL-inclusive street paves the way for deaf children to be included on Halloween.The UK’s first BSL-inclusive street paves the way for deaf children to be included on Halloween.
The UK’s first BSL-inclusive street paves the way for deaf children to be included on Halloween.

Phrases such as ‘trick or treat’ and ‘you look spooky’ were taught to neighbours of Ada, age 6 ahead of this year’s festivities. When Ada participates in the tradition for the very first time, she will be able to interact with her street using BSL. Residents have made the tradition even easier for Ada, applying stickers added to their windows indicating they’re BSL-friendly households.

It comes as 60% of the population find it difficult to communicate with someone who is deaf, and only 8% are really confident in their ability to greet someone in BSL. 33% of people have typed out messages on their phone to communicate or spoken slowly to try to help deaf people to lip read (61%).

With 71% eager to learn more, a series of BSL translated Halloween expressions are available to learn online at www.signwithfingers.cadbury.co.uk. 77% of deaf children feel happy when someone makes an effort to engage with them.

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Influencer Learning.Adas.Language - mother to Ada who is profoundly deaf - is the driving force behind the change in her street. The mother-daughter duo headed out on Ada’s first trick or treating experience, captured in a new film that has been released today. It sees her invite others to do the same and visit the Sign with Fingers website to learn a little BSL.

Ada’s mother Tilly, says of the experience: “We haven’t taken Ada trick or treating before as we’ve been wary that there could be barriers in communication with other households, and we haven’t wanted her to feel left out. The fact that our street now knows a little BSL, we’re really looking forward to taking her out trick or treating for the first time. Having her neighbours communicate with her in BSL is going to be so exciting.”

Anastasia Lutskovskaya, Senior Brand Manager Cadbury Biscuits UK, from Cadbury Fingers, comments, “Just knowing even basic BSL can make a deaf person feel more included in moments of celebration and sharing. That’s why, at Halloween, when costumes and masks create extra barriers for deaf people and those with hearing loss to interact, we wanted to encourage people to learn a little BSL, create even more of these sharing moments, and a greater sense of inclusion for everyone to enjoy. To help people in their BSL journey, we’ve hosted Halloween themed phrases on our site.”

Susan Daniels, Chief Executive at the National Deaf Children’s Society, said: “We’re proud to be working in partnership with Cadbury Fingers as part of the ‘Sign with Fingers Big & Small’ campaign. Together, we aim to raise awareness about the communication barriers deaf children and young people can face, encouraging more people to be deaf aware, as well as learn some basic signs. We want to see a more inclusive world so that every deaf child can be part of the conversation.”

To find out more about how to include more deaf people by learning some British Sign Language, visit https://signwithfingers.cadbury.co.uk/ to learn a phrase or two.

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