WISE is proud to celebrate the National Week of Deaf People (NWDP). In 2022, the week runs Monday, 19 to Sunday, 25 September. This year’s theme focused on Building Inclusive Communities for All.
The theme this year aims to celebrate the Auslan as a language, the Deaf culture and history, along with promoting the Deaf communities’ achievements.
In Australia, about 3.6 million people have some level of hearing loss (‘About Ear Health’, Australian Government). To encourage inclusion and diversity in the community, WISE worked with South Australian Employment Consultant, Naomi, to create five short videos on common Auslan phrases. The videos were shared across WISE social media channels during the week, encouraging everyone to learn Auslan and get involved this NWDP.
You can learn Auslan with Naomi, below.
Greetings:
We started the week with the basics. Hello, how are you? And the different responses. Learn how to communicate your feelings in Auslan with the video below.
Introducing Family:
On Tuesday, we expanded our Auslan knowledge, learning how to introduce our mother, father, brother and sister.
The significance of The National Week of Deaf People:
On Wednesday, we took a break from learning Auslan with Naomi to look into this year’s theme: ‘Reaffirming Deaf People’s Human Rights’. See what this means to Naomi in the following video.
Hobbies:
Do you like hiking or going to the movies? Thursday’s Auslan with Naomi highlighted hobbies and how to ask others about theirs.
Weekend Plans:
We finished off the week learning how to sign our weekend plans. Learn these common weekend plans in the video below!
It’s never to late to learn Auslan! Almost 20,000 Australians use Auslan as 200-years old unique language every day, creating a diverse and inclusive community not just for those who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing, but for everyone.
Find more interesting facts about Auslan.