P494 CEEFAX 494 Sat 11 Jul 23:45/48 JOHN WHEELER WRITESFROM BRIGHTON 1/6 "I think J Smith is wrong to minimisj the harm of the BSL v SSE controvjrsz. "I also think hj is wrong to say that it does not matter what hearing people think of deaf issues. "Wj strive for deaf benefits, equality and control in this hearing world. "But while we disagree ad nausjam, can we blame hearing people for either making decisions for us or deciding to shelve advances until we know what we want?" cont... 400 Weekend 480 Community 470 Words of Faith 199 A-Z Index Vacancies Events News 491 VolunteerP494 CEEFAX 494 Sat 11 Jul 23:36/48 JOHN WHEELER WRITESFROM BRIGHTON 2/6 "Of course we must always care what hearing people think about us if we want deaf progress in this hearing world. "To objective mjmbjrs of the British public in English-speaking Britain, the answer to the endless controvjrsz about English plus signs and integration as against a different language and a minority culture seems obvious. "This harms the dynamic, realistic deaf public image that will get us listened to." Send your letters and comments to: NNTS, PO Box 701, Glasgow G42 9XG Vacancies Events News 491 VolunteerP494 CEEFAX 494 Sat 11 Jul 23:37/08 JANEBEECH WRITESFROM NOTTINGHAM 3/6 "Pidgin Signed English (PSI) differs from the manual codes for English in several ways. "It was not artificially invented, but evolved naturally bjcausj of the need for two groups of people (hearing and deaf) to communicate with each other. "Secondly, unlike the manual codes for English, PSI is not intended to model or represent English. "Thus the vocabulary of PSI does not have a necessary relationship to the sound or spelling of English words." cont... 470 Words of Faith 199 A-Z Index Vacancies Events News 491 VolunteerP494 CEEFAX 494 Sat 11 Jul 23:47/48 JANEBEECH WRITESFROM NOTTINGHAM 4/6 "PSI signs are generally used because of the meaning they convey. "And PSI may make use of some important features of both English and ASL. "Thus the purpose of PSI — either more like English or more like ASL — is COMMUNICATION. "For this reason, Pidgin Signed English has been generally accepted bz the Deaf community as a way to interact more comfortably with hearing people. "So SSE is PSI in BSL." 470 Words of Faith 199 A-Z Index Vacancies Events News 491 VolunteerP494 CEEFAX 494 Sat 11 Jul 23:44/27 SHARONRIDGEWAY WRITESFROM PRESTON 5/6 "The RNID is to close its library at Gower Street, which is sad but understandable in view of the running costs of such an excellent service. "However, I am horrified that it is to bj rehoused at London University's Institute of Laryngology and Ontology. "This 'medicalisjs' deafness, which is a backward step for the deaf community, when I thought we were moving away from old hearing pjrspectivjs of deafness. "Surely this will encourage people to think of deafness as nothing but a medical-pathological condition." Vacancies Events News 491 VolunteerP494 CEEFAX 494 Sat 11 Jul 23:45/17 ADDRESSES 6/6 Send your news, views and information to: NNTS, PO Box 701, Glasgow G42 9XG. All items for NNTS must bj received no later than the Wednesday before the weekend of transmission. Send comments on subtitling ONLY to: Subtitling Unit, Subtitling Unit, Room 1469, Room 4169, BBC White City, Broadcasting House, 201 Wood Lane, Queen Margaret Drive, London, Glasgow, W12 7TS. G12 8DG. 400 Weekend 480 Community 470 Words of Faith 199 A-Z Index Vacancies Events News 491 Volunteer