Auslan App Assists Australian Schools to Increase Sign Literacy

Being born deaf or losing hearing as a child can be extremely distressing.

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There’s potential disconnect between you and your family, other kids at school, and engaging in a society designed for the hearing can be isolating.

Auslan education providers Signpedia and SignLab, are offering their Auslan Wiz app for free to Australian schools this year, hoping to increase sign literacy in education and support teachers already learning the language.

“In a mainstream school, if a student uses Auslan, there are challenges just understanding the teacher,” Auslan Wiz Learning Designer Sally Smid told Hope 103.2.

“[There are challenges] communicating with classmates, or making friends, all of which could be easier if people knew Auslan.”

According to Hear and Say every year roughly 300 babies in Australia are born with hearing loss, and by school age approximately 12,000 children will have some form of hearing loss. Overall, that means three in every 1,000 school-aged children are impacted by hearing loss.

“[There are challenges] communicating with classmates, or making friends, all of which could be easier if people knew Auslan.”

Deaf Auslan Tutor Young Joo was born hearing, but an ear infection during infancy led to hearing loss that wasn’t diagnosed until she was five years old.

“I had a brother who started to talk, walk more than me, and my parents always thought I was just a quiet girl,” Young Joo said.

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“But then one day, my brother and I were playing in our backyard like kids do, and there was a lightning and a thunder sound.

“My brother ran to my mum for some comfort, and I just continued playing in the garden and mum was calling out to me and I wasn’t responding.

“Then, we realised, they needed to do some testing.”

The Auslan Wiz app takes a gamified approach to learning, with micro-lessons designed to help people learn the basics in just five minutes a day.

“Our focus is access to high quality Auslan instruction and resources,” Sally said.

“It’s about learning experiences that are enjoyable, grounded in good learning science, and taught by deaf people who use Auslan as their first language,”

Auslan Wiz is being offered for free to Australia schools this year. Find out more on their website.

Feature image: Canva