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STV News
29-06-2025
- Politics
- STV News
Deaf teen who won fight for interpreter hails classroom reform for BSL users
A deaf teenager who won a legal fight for an interpreter in the classroom has welcomed the passing of a bill that will legally recognise students and teachers who use British Sign Language (BSL). Niamdh Braid, 16, has been deaf since birth and has hearing aids, but her first choice of language is BSL. Last year, Niamdh took legal action against Fife Council after being denied access to an interpreter in her classes, despite attending Auchmuty High School, which is designated as a base for deaf support services. Her dad argued the lack of support had 'denied her full access to learning for her whole school career.' The tribunal ruled in Niamdh's favour, finding she had been placed at a 'substantial disadvantage' without BSL interpretation. Reflecting on her experience, she told STV News: 'I've been so tired from having to focus on lip reading, piecing bits of sentences together that I've missed, and then having to write stuff down while trying to lip read. 'Then if I'm writing something down, I'm then missing what the teacher's saying at that point, but if I don't write it down, then I'm going to miss what they're saying because I don't have it written down, so I don't have those notes.' On Wednesday, MSPs voted to pass reforms to Scotland's Education system by 69 votes to 47. STV News Niamdh has welcomed the new Bill which will help deaf people 'navigate life in a hearing world' The Education Scotland Bill will see the creation of a new authority, Qualifications Scotland, abolishing the current SQA model and a new chief inspector of Education of Scotland. At submission, the bill only included recognition for Gaelic learners but following a year-long campaign headed by the National Deaf Children's Society (NDCS). George McGowan from the NDCS says the new legislation is a huge milestone for BSL learners. Deaf children are nearly three times as likely to leave school without any qualifications, with the NCDS saying children and young people who use BSL are now protected for the future. George said: 'We feel this is a massive move forward for young deaf children's rights here in Scotland. 'BSL is a vibrant language which gives deaf children and young people access to a rich culture, heritage and identity. 'We're keen to see more people learn British Sign Language to remove the barriers that exist between deaf and hearing people. 'In addition, it helps us educate the hearing community about both the deaf community and deaf culture.' Despite this recognition, members of the BSL community are questioning why it has taken so long for the bill to include the language, despite the British Sign Language Scotland Bill coming into force in October 2015. Niamdh is now heading into her sixth year of high school and has an interpreter to help with her studies. STV News National Deaf Children's Society George McGowan She says she hopes this move can help remove stigma and improve support for younger deaf children. She said: 'At the end of the day, we're in a world that isn't built for us; we're in a world that was built for and by hearing people. We just need that little bit of support to be able to navigate life in a hearing world.' Education secretary Jenny Gilruth MSP said: 'I think this says very strongly to the BSL community that we value them, we want to work with them, we want to make sure that where policy does not reflect their needs, we work to get that right. 'The government did that. It's so important I know to the BSL community that we have that reflected in all that we do, particularly in an education space where we know those entitlements are absolutely fundamental to supporting our young people.' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
The Guardian
04-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘The only thing we can't do is hear': the deaf pupil who beat Fife council in court
The slogan on Niamdh Braid's powder-blue sweatshirt puts it plainly enough: 'I define my own deaf identity.' 'We're in a world that's built for hearing people,' says the 16-year-old from Glenrothes in Fife, 'and we have to navigate through it to find what works best for us.' Earlier this year, the teenager won a legal battle with her local council to have a British Sign Language interpreter in lessons, after she realised how much of what was said in class she was missing out on. Niamdh, who has been deaf since birth, wears hearing aids, but can struggle to follow in noisy environments and her preferred language is BSL. As a younger child, she didn't have any deaf people she could look up to on TV or on the news. Now she hopes that through her advocacy 'younger deaf kids can look up to me and see that they can achieve anything'. 'A lot of people think that because we can't hear we can't achieve high-earning jobs and go into good professions,' says Niamdh, whose favourite subject is modern studies and who hopes to get into teaching then politics when she grows older. 'But the only thing we can't do is hear – there's nothing actually wrong with us. We can do anything that we put our mind to.' Yet deaf children are eight times more likely to leave school with no qualifications, according to the National Deaf Children's Society, which financially supported Niamdh's legal action. Niamdh was talking in advance of a report by MSPs that will reveal a significant fall in the number of specialist teachers of deaf people in Scotland. It is prompting the NDCS to warn of a 'growing crisis in deaf education' and lack of guidance from local authorities about what kind of support they should be providing deaf children in schools. At high school, she explains, there was an assumption that she did not need support because she was still achieving decent grades. But at Niamdh's tribunal, an independent assessment by a deaf education specialist found she was only accessing 70% of what was being said in class, even when her teacher wore a microphone transmitting to her hearing aids. Her dad, Steve, chips in: 'If she was accessing 100% at the teaching, imagine what she could be achieving. Why should she settle for average just because she's deaf?' Constantly struggling to hear came at a heavy price, and Niamdh was increasingly exhausted. 'I was always tired, asking to go to my bed at four o'clock before I'd had anything to eat.' At weekend she was too tired to go out with her friends. After her request for a BSL interpreter was turned down, first by her school and then by Fife council, Niamdh felt she had no choice: 'At this point it was getting close to my exams and I'd missed so much class already. I wanted to launch the action under my own name because it was for me, and I can voice my needs without the help of my parents.' Giving evidence, she explained that 'it's always a hearing person that makes decisions for the deaf person, and it shouldn't be the case. Because hearing people don't know what it's like to go through life in a world that's not built for them.' Early last year the tribunal ruled that Niamdh was being placed at 'substantial disadvantage', but the appeals process was only concluded this spring. 'When the last appeal got thrown out, it was the biggest relief I've ever felt,' says Niamdh. She went out for a Chinese buffet meal with her parents and younger brother to celebrate. The teenager, who takes part in taekwondo competitions and is a devoted fan of the hospital drama series Grey's Anatomy, says she's very lucky to have a close group of friends she's known since nursery school. 'It's all they've known with their friendship with me: if we're talking they need to face me, make sure there's not too much noise in the background.' She feels strongly that young deaf people should be allowed to make their own choices about what support they access, and that they are not a homogenous group: 'Everyone has their own way of communicating. It's not up to anyone else to decide that. 'It's the kid's choice of what they want to be as a deaf person. If they want to go without aids, if they want to have the hearing technology, if they want to be involved in the deaf community, let them decide.' Fife council's head of education and children's services, Angela Logue, said: 'We are continuing to work very closely with Niamdh and her family to meet her needs as identified by the outcomes of the tribunal.'
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Deaf pupil wins legal fight for BSL interpreter
A deaf teenager has won a legal fight against Fife Council to have a British Sign Language interpreter in her class for school lessons. Niamdh Braid, 16, from Glenrothes, launched an action against her local authority last year after missing out on essential learning. She has been deaf since birth and wears hearing aids, but the teenager struggles to hear in noisy environments. Her preferred language is British Sign Language (BSL). Niamdh often cannot understand what is taking place during class time and her learning has been affected as a result. Her efforts to try to keep on top of her lessons without an interpreter left her "exhausted". She told BBC Scotland News: "At the end of the school day I'm so tired. I have to leave class sometimes and take a break because it is just so much. "I come home and I have to go to my bed at half past seven or eight o'clock at night. That's not normal for a 16-year-old." Auchmuty High School, where Niamdh is an S5 pupil, does have specialised deaf provision through teachers of the deaf. This is a qualified role used in schools across Scotland. But in some cases the post only requires a BSL level 3 qualification. A BSL interpreter must have at least Level 6 BSL qualification. Niamdh and her parents had previously asked the school for a BSL interpreter but their request was turned down. A complaint to Fife Council was also rejected. Following this, and with financial support from charity National Deaf Children's Society, Niamdh raised her own legal action against the local authority. Niamdh said: "Deaf children are eight times more likely to leave school with no qualification and that shouldn't be the case because deafness is not a learning disability. We are able to learn, we are able to achieve anything." Early last year in a tribunal, it was ruled that Niamdh was being placed at a "substantial disadvantage" and was "at risk of feeling isolated, withdrawn, unsupported and not listened to" without advanced BSL interpretation. The ruling also stated that Fife Council's BSL provision was only up to Level 2 qualification During the case, Fife Council had argued that there was no spare capacity to assign Niamdh regular input and BSL support without the need to recruit additional staff. The tribunal rejected the complaint. The tribunal's ruling said the failure to provide advanced BSL support meant the claimant was "missing things in class and does not know what she is missing". Fife Council initially appealed the decision but in December that appeal was rejected. The local authority has now said it will not challenge the ruling any further. Fife Council must now provide BSL support at a qualified interpreter level in all of Niamdh's National Qualifications classes. A recruitment process is under way. In a statement, Fife Council's head of education services, Angela Logue, said: "We have been working very closely with Niamdh and her family to meet her needs as identified by the tribunal." Niamdh's father Steve Braid told BBC Scotland News: "It's disgusting that we've had to fight as hard as we have, and as hard as Niamdh's had to fight. We've been quite lucky as, in the end, we've got to where we have but there's a lot of people out there who won't fight as hard or don't realise what they are entitled to. "I'm immensely proud of what's she's done. She's so passionate about wanting to take this all further and prove that just because she's deaf doesn't mean to can't do something. She's very stubborn." The legal action was funded by the National Deaf Children's Society. Mark Ballard, its head of policy in Scotland, told BBC Scotland News: "Deafness, by its very nature, means that children can just disappear into the back of the classroom. "That's why we hope that every local authority in Scotland will look at this and put in place the support that deaf children need, rather than those children and their parents having to go all the way to a tribunal to get what should be theirs as a right." Perfecting Scots dialect in sign language Inventing sign language for scientists Plans for sign language use in daily life
