Emmerdale to mark Deaf Awareness Week with sign language videos

By Laura Harding, Press Association Entertainment Editor

Emmerdale will mark Deaf Awareness Week with a string of videos in which stars of the soap teach and learn sign language.

In the four videos, actress Laura Norton, who plays Kerry Pollard, teaches her co-star Mike Parr, better known as Ross Barton, British Sign Language (BSL).

Norton, who is married to Heartbeat actor Mark Jordon, is mother to two children who have Usher syndrome, a rare genetic condition that affects hearing, vision and balance.

The condition is present from birth but can take years for symptoms to appear and is usually diagnosed in older children or teenagers, according to disability charity Sense.

She said: “I was thrilled when the idea for these videos came up.

“Deaf Awareness Week is important to us, as both of our children have been diagnosed with hearing loss. And they both wear hearing aids.

“Every deaf person’s experience is different, but one thing that we wanted to do as they got older was learn sign language and teach them to use it as well.

“It’s a wonderful skill to have and it’s a beautiful language and Deaf Awareness Week promotes awareness and inclusivity for the deaf community.

“I’m also hopeful these videos, although a bit of fun, might encourage people to think about learning to sign too.”

Norton and Jordon are patrons of Cure Usher Syndrome, a charity dedicated to supporting people with the condition, raising awareness and funding research to help find a cure.

Parr said he was keen to learn to sign after hearing Norton had been taking lessons.

He said: “I was only too happy to agree when I was asked to create a video learning how to sign.

“Laura is one of the nicest, kindest, most warm and caring people I’ve ever met.

“I was already aware that her two children had Usher syndrome, and I know how important this is to her and her partner Mark.

“Laura is a great teacher, and I found our session quite easy to pick up, although I know I’ll have to practise to retain the information.

“My beautiful little daughter attends baby sensory classes where they are learning Makaton, so my family – myself, Izzy and Susie – will definitely try and keep it up as much as possible.

“I strongly believe we should learn sign language at school; it would be valuable and as useful as learning French, German, Spanish or Latin. I’ve loved this experience, and I hope that we could even start a little web series or do a few more instructional videos together.

“There is a website – british-sign.co.uk – where you can easily start your BSL journey.”

Deaf Awareness Week is from May 4th to 10th and the videos will be released throughout the week.