Words in Hand

Content

Nearly 50 years ago the Edinburgh BSL research project was set up at Moray House. This project was phenomenal because it led to the recognition of BSL as a language.

We have recordings from the project in British Sign Language which we are preserving. There are so few recordings of sign language in history. It is much easier to record now, but examples from the past are rarer. The stories and examples recorded for the project and beyond uncover the experiences of a generation of Deaf Sign Language users.

Lilian Lawson and Clark Denmark explained their role in Edinburgh BSL project team. John Hay delved further back into the history of BSL in the UK. We showed clips from the video tapes, launching our new digitised resource based on the SIGN 1-10 recordings from the 1980s.

Target Audience

Anyone interested in the development of BSL is invited to discover how BSL began and about the Edinburgh BSL Project which was the first recognition of BSL as a language.

Presenters

Audrey Cameron, John Hay, Lilian Lawson, Clark Denmark

Acknowledgements

This project has been made possible by funding from National Lottery Heritage fund.