FOCUS: Deaf teen on a mission to make Jersey more inclusive

Friday 17 February 2023

A 16-year-old student who has been profoundly deaf since she was born is on a mission to teach sign language to as many islanders as possible to help make the island more inclusive for people with hearing impairments - and to generate some pocket-money for when she leaves school.

Express spoke to Heather Armstrong about the struggles of growing up without hearing, how she gained her confidence, and the basics of BSL...

In her own words, "I'm 100%, very deaf. I have no hearing." 

All of Heather's hearing is artificially generated using Cochlear implants - can electronic device that is surgically implanted into the ear that allows Heather to process speech and sound.

"I didn't start talking until I was around seven"

Heather's implants were placed in her ear when she was only 18 months old, making her the first bilaterally implanted child in St. Thomas' Hospital in London - and "potentially in the UK, we aren't sure," she noted.

Being a deaf person has proved a challenge for Heather at times.

Pictured: 16-year-old Heather Armstrong.

She said:  “I didn’t start talking until I was around seven. It has an effect at school, especially in group situations. It makes me tired because I’m always actively listening but it’s taught me a lot."

"You have to work twice as hard as everyone else"

She continued: "It’s sort of taught me to be a little bit more empathetic.

"I’m a lot tougher than the average person I would say, because I had to be tough to succeed as a deaf person, you have to work twice as hard as anyone else.” 

While Heather mostly communicates through speech, she has been able to sign since she was very little. She said: 

“When my parents found out I was deaf, they booked my whole family in for sign language lessons. My parents have been amazing. Just because I’m the only deaf person in the family so they had to learn a lot and adapt a lot in a short time."

Today's #BritishSignLanguage sign is: PROMISE - #BSL - learn sign language online at https://t.co/Nfh3kkYJfI pic.twitter.com/dkrZqrUK6O

— British Sign Language (@BritishSignBSL) February 16, 2021

British Sign Language, or BSL, is the premier sign language used by the deaf community in the UK.

Its origins can be traced back as far as the 1400s, and has over 151,000 active users, with over 15,000 people who use it as their primary means of communication. 

Now, Heather is offering to teach islanders this remarkable language. She has been doing it since the end of the pandemic, alongside her studies and looking after her pony, Dolce. 

"Why not just exploit my talents?"

“It was actually my mum's idea," she explained. "I was looking for a job. It was after covid, everyone was looking for a job so I thought, why not just exploit my talents?"  

While sign language is a visual means of communication - using gestures, facial expression, and body language - it still closely resembles any other language.

"It is a language, it has its own grammar, its own customs, it’s the same as any language like French or Spanish," Heather explained.

When it comes to teaching, like any language, Heather will start with the basics, like the alphabet, numbers and colours.

"Finger spelling" tests

Heather even warned that she will impose spelling tests on her clients - "finger spelling".

The tests will see her give her pupil a word, and get them to spell it out using sign, or she will spell it out and leave her tutee to guess what the word is. "It's trickier than you might think!" she said.

Heather aims to be as inclusive as possible with her lessons, and says she tries to tailor her lessons to each person's needs.

Giving an example, she explained: “One of my client has an autistic child, so I teach her things that would be relevant to a child like colours, animals... Hello Kitty.”

"I just want to bring awareness"

Her main motivations for offering the classes are two-fold.

Firstly, she said: "I just want to bring awareness, about how to communicate with deaf people, and how deaf people are the exact same… They just can’t hear.”

Secondly, she is also hoping to raise a bit of money for her post-school plans - to help her with her university expenses or to go travelling in a gap year.

"I don't know if I'm taking a gap year, I don't know if I'll go straight to university... I need to work that out." 

Reflecting on the progress she has made personally over the years, Heather says she is thankful in particular to the key workers at her old school, Le Rocquier - Mrs Romeril, Mrs Williams, Ms Dhami. She said the trio were instrumental in helping her to feel confident.

"I went through a phase of completely cutting my deaf identity"

“I went through a phase of completely cutting my deaf identity, refusing to sign, wasn’t very proactive… They had to push me and push me to get me to this point where I can just talk and sign in public. They have been amazing.”

Want to learn sign language?

Anyone interested in learning BSL with Heather is invited to contact her on Facebook HERE.