MUSCAT -- Learning the concepts of Sign Language Translation (SLT) is beneficial in dealing with persons with hearing and speech defects in the community. It is also importing in drawing the attention of people with such complications to the mainstream of the community and enables the relatives and other members of the community to liberally interact with people with impairment without any hesitations, says, Said bin Mohammed al Badai, Head of SLT Department and member of the Board of Directors, Oman Association for the Disabled (OAD).
"Currently, there are more than 10,000 people with hearing and speech defects in the Sultanate, among whom, the association specifically caters to only people above 14 years of age and above. The remaining portion of the population is catered for by Al Wafa Centres for Speech and Hearing Defects that provides education to students up to grade 12 in the evening classes", he said.
Unfortunately, the students do not have higher education institutions to enrol and a lot of them do not even have jobs chiefly because of the communication barrier. But if, the communication gap is seriously taken into consideration by majority of the community -- the problem can be resolved by learning the proficiency of sign language communication.
Learning the skills of sign language can also significantly contribute in empowering people with speech and hearing impairment that can be beneficial for the socio-economic progress of an individual and the nation as a whole, he noted. He urged the community to learn the ability of SLT similar to the initiative they provide in learning other foreign languages in order to clearly interact with people of other cultures.
"Although, initially learning the know-how of Arabic Sign language from oral language is a bit tricky, but with technical and practical experience, a person can slowly but precisely learn the skill of sign language communication", said Al Badai, who specialised in SLT over a period of only four years under the supervision of a Signs Language Expert at OAD. He further enhanced his ability in sign language translation by attending a specifically tailored course conducted by Saudi Islamic Bank through a period of four months.
His initiative to learn SLT commenced from his first visit to the OAD when, for the first time he met some people with speech and hearing impairment who were eager to learn about the traffic rules and the rights of the disabled people especially when they saw him dressed in police gear. "In particular, those people primitively wanted to know more about the traffic rules and signs and the rights of people with speech and hearing defects.
Within moments, I imagined having a child or a close relative with similar complications and the kind of environment they would be experiencing. Soon, I decided to dedicate my time and effort to learn the concept of SLT in spite of my routine activities simply for the for the benefit of the disabled section of the community and the public as a whole."
Now, as one of the proficient SLT in the Sultanate, Captain Al Badai, who also works as Public Relations Officer at the Royal Oman Police is among a handful of Omanis who have mastered SLT among whom only two are men and four are women. Presently, he volunteers to translate a lot of work for OAD and translates Arabic news on Oman TV and also translates hospital, police and court proceedings as well as conducts lessons on effective communication skills to families with such people.
The association also plans to translate materials of the Majlis Ash'Shura, religious and civil affairs for the people with speech and hearing impairment in the community. "Although, currently only a few Omanis are qualified in SLT, the association, in co-ordination with the Ministry of social Development plans to train more Omanis in this skill", he said.
Routinely, the association also conducts two-hour basic sign language course to volunteers who wish to learn the communication tactics on alternative days of the week. Besides it also conducts similar courses for the general public at the OAD premises in Muscat and diverse regions of the country. The OAD also encourages persons with speech and hearing defects to join the mainstream of the public and because of this, more and more people with such defects are showing up and some of them are now working in diverse areas of specialisations such as the hospitals, police stations and the immigration departments.
By Maryam Khalfan
© Oman Daily Observer 2009
