Deaf Awareness Week promotes sign language, inclusive communication

NATIONAL DEAF AWARENESS WEEK. The Department of Education holds the kickoff celebration of the National Deaf Awareness Week at the Bulwagang Romualdez of the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino in Manila on Friday (Nov. 10, 2023). Commissioner IV Benjamin Mendillo (center) of the Commission on the Filipino Language graced the event that promotes the Filipino Sign Language and other inclusive communication processes. (Photo: DepEd Philippines/Facebook)

MANILA – The Department of Education (DepEd) launched on Friday the week-long celebration of the 2023 National Deaf Awareness Week (NDAW) to promote Filipino Sign Language (FSL) and other ways of inclusive communication.

Led by the Bureau of Learning Delivery – Student Inclusion Division, the DepEd and its partners discussed existing laws that emphasize inclusive education, interpreters’ guidelines, court interpretation, newborn hearing screening, and success outlook of a deaf individual.

Commissioner IV Benjamin Mendillo of the Commission on the Filipino Language (CFL) cited Republic Act (RA) 11106 or the FSL Act, which declared FSL as the national sign language and the official sign language of the government in all transactions involving the deaf, mandating its use in schools, broadcast media, and workplaces.

“The laws recognize Filipino Sign Language as the mother language, first language, and visual language of the Filipino deaf community, all of which uphold State commitment to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in recognizing and promoting the specific cultural and linguistic identity of deaf communities,” Mendillo said.

The law, he said, also includes the provision of full accessibility to government services, transactions, and facilities, promotes the inclusion of deaf Filipinos, and by eliminating barriers and inequalities, restores their dignity and rightful place in society.

“Moreover, by intensified use of Filipino Sign Language in all official transactions, communications and correspondence in government offices involving the deaf will hasten greater understanding and appreciation among the people of government programs, projects and activities throughout the country, thereby serving as an instrument of unity and peace for national progress,” he added.

Mendillo said NDAW is not just about emphasizing deaf rights in the society but the social contribution that it brings as a workforce and as a linguistic community just like other speaking community.

The 2023 NDAW celebration will continue until Nov. 16 to promote the responsibility of caring, appreciating, and respecting individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, and late-deafened.