Enthusiastic tweeter and diagnostic radiographer Ben Stuttard has been sharing his passion for learning sign language by posting a series of videos each Saturday on Twitter and in his blog at radiographerben.com
“(It) started in November 2016 during #EandDWeek (Equality & Diversity) when I was tweeting about deaf awareness. I came across the #getthenationsigning hashtag and decided to combine it with another passion of mine - #hellomynameis - and do my bit,” Ben explains on his blog.
“I decided I’d like to create a regular slot and hence came the first #SigningSaturday,” he continues.
Ben, who works at Aintree University Hospital, learns one or two new signs each week, which he shares with followers in his videos.
“I wanted to learn how to sign for about 20 years when I had a holiday job whilst at university. A customer came up to me and started signing and I didn’t have a clue what he was saying,” he comments.
“It made me feel bad and I thought that one day I’d like to learn how to sign. I’m doing an online course with British Sign Language and teaching myself from their online dictionary.
“It doesn’t take a lot of effort and it is fun as well as a potentially useful way of being able to communicate - if only the basics - with patients who sign.”
As well as visiting Ben’s blog and following him on Twitter, more information is available from www.british-sign.co.uk and Ben recommends following the creator of #getthenationsigning @RebeccaCrossle2