An Added Obstacle
Liam Mcmulkin was about to change his family’s history as he was the first to head off to college after landing a place at the University of Dundee. However, Liam had an obstacle to face: he was born deaf. This meant the new student had to spend each lecture watching an interpreter if he stood any chance of keeping up with his life sciences course.
Feeling The Effects
It wasn’t long before Liam felt tired from watching someone sign every word for an hour. That wasn’t all. Many of the scientific terms were long or had newly been discovered. This meant the interpreter would have to spell out each word. Although they invented their own sign for Liam to make it easier for next time, the student struggled to learn them all.
Changing It All
Enough was enough. Liam knew there had to be a new way to make it easier for others, so he set about creating more than 100 brand new signs for the words. No longer did Liam feel as though he was being left behind. That wasn’t all. His new signs will go on to help thousands of future deaf students studying science.
Liam’s scientific signs have officially been recognized as a part of British Sign Language. This means that more than 85,000 people across the UK now get to use the words as part of an official language rather than one restricted to Liam and his interpreter. One moment of frustration has given science a whole new language.