On Friday, 8 May 2026, I spoke with a Chinese woman in the library about Deaf Culture and sign language after class. She asked thoughtful questions and showed genuine interest in how our experiences differ from those in China and other countries.

She expressed interest in Sign Language Awareness Week and wanted to understand what D/deaf people celebrate and their goals for the wider community in Aotearoa/New Zealand. She initially thought the focus was primarily on the needs of the Deaf community, such as interpreter access and effective communication in workplaces and communities.

I explained that Sign Language Awareness Week is not solely about the Deaf community and their first language, New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL).

Sign language benefits many groups, including deaf and nonverbal individuals, neurodiverse people, families of deaf children, and Māori communities. Learning and sharing sign language creates opportunities for all, such as becoming interpreters or contributing to education, technology, and media. Since joining the World Federation of the Deaf in the 1990s, I have used its resources. Recently, one of these resources was submitted to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to support the special rapporteur on the right to education. This contribution is titled Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment at the Service of the Right to Education.

The main goal is to provide a deaf-led, rights-based perspective on curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment, emphasising the essential role of language access in the realisation of the right to education.

• The right to education and linguistic human rights for deaf children and learners are fundamental principles.
• Persistent barriers to equitable education for deaf learners remain.
• Effective assessment, pedagogy, and curriculum strategies are required to address these barriers.

The World Federation of the Deaf respectfully recommends that State Parties take the following actions:

• Ensure early, continuous, and unrestricted access to national sign languages and signing spaces from infancy as a prerequisite for realising the right to education.
• Develop and validate national sign language-based and bilingual assessment tools.
• Provide regular sign language assessments to monitor language development.
• Adopt bilingual and national sign language-rich pedagogical approaches across all levels of education.
• The school curriculum should be delivered in the national sign language by qualified educators who are proficient in its use.

This morning, I briefly watched the Breakfast Show, where a Deaf individual from Auckland and an interpreter spoke with Tova O’Brien, a New Zealand political journalist and broadcaster. The interview focused on our official Sign Language Week, held on May 8th, 2026.

In Education

https://newzealandcurriculum.tahurangi.education.govt.nz/5637303581.p#Learningareastructure

Every child, including D/deaf children and those with disabilities, should learn and communicate in sign language together in one classroom. This inclusive approach fosters teamwork and a sense of belonging throughout the educational period. Separate classrooms for D/deaf students with teacher aides and interpreters are often unnecessary and require additional funding. Many D/deaf people may not realize this, but there is a strong preference for unity within the Deaf community, for sign language, and for Deaf culture. The World Federation of the Deaf encourages D/deaf people and people with disabilities to focus on inclusion, so others can learn from us. For four years, I worked as a deaf teacher aide for two deaf students in a mainstream school. Other students observed and learned our sign language, enhancing deaf students’ cognitive development through visual learning and cultural exchange. Many students provided feedback, asking for solutions and tips to support their deaf classmates when I was not present. This experience was an excellent example of mentoring both students and teachers in the classroom.

It is important for all parents of Deaf babies to consider learning sign language from an early stage, starting at 12 weeks old, as babies use visual contact daily to memorize rather than rely on sound. In my experience studying linguistics at university and completing my BA, I found that babies quickly learn sign language, often acquiring 75 sign language words compared to fewer than 25 spoken words in a year. If audiologists or medical staff discourage the use of sign language for deaf babies, they may lack sufficient experience or understanding of our community.