When I joined the Cambridge University Sign Language Society (CUSLS) in my first year at Cambridge, I was hopeful. As a Deaf student (my twin sister and I were born Deaf, I use hearing aids, she, cochlear implants), I looked forward to meeting other d/Deaf students and immersing myself in a community that celebrated British Sign Language (BSL), Deaf culture, and awareness. However, my experience fell short of these expectations. I was disappointed that I was the only d/Deaf person in the group, and the teacher was hearing. Neither were they professionally skilled or had much engagement with the d/Deaf community and culture. The absence of a d/Deaf teacher in a club teaching BSL did not feel right. As the only d/Deaf person attending, I felt it undermined the club and did not provide as inclusive a space for d/Deaf people as I had hoped. The lessons were held in a pub which was not d/Deaf accessible due to background noise levels.

“The absence of a d/Deaf teacher in a club teaching BSL did not feel right”

The lack of focus on d/Deafness within this society can deter Deaf students from joining. Kirstie Stage, another deaf student, was initially put off. She said, “When I started my doctorate, I visited the Freshers’ fair, where I first encountered CUSLS. Although it was great to see students excited by BSL, there were initially few deaf people involved in the society (one person at the time, I believe!)” including teachers.

The lack of d/Deaf representation within the society increased the risks associated with cultural appropriation of BSL. Providing background information about Sign languages and Deaf culture is important foundational knowledge ensuring cultural sensitivity around it. The superficial adoption of BSL risks the appropriation of Sign languages and Deaf culture. When people learn and use BSL for trendy reasons, Deaf culture is ignored or commodified. The motivations to learn Sign languages should derive from a genuine desire to engage and learn about Deaf culture and communicate with d/Deaf people.

I now serve as the President of the society. Reflecting on my initial experience, I knew that significant changes were needed to transform the society into an inclusive space for both d/Deaf and hearing students. Since joining the committee in second year, we have made important changes to how the society was run for at least the previous ten years.

“For that one hour once a week, there is almost only silence, and I get to really immerse myself in BSL”

One of the most critical changes was recruiting professional BSL teachers who are d/Deaf. Teaching BSL without d/Deaf educators undermines the authenticity of the learning experience. d/Deaf teachers can offer better linguistic expertise, and their lived experiences of being d/Deaf and insights into the culture and language – elements that hearing teachers often lack. BSL and Sign languages are the languages of d/Deaf people and, have a rich history, and are embedded in Deaf culture. Understanding this is crucial for anyone interested in learning BSL. The introduction of d/Deaf teachers, such as Adam Linsdell, associated with the Cambridge Deaf Association, has enriched the classes, lent greater authenticity and built a stronger sense of community. Stella Wilkinson, who attends the Intermediate class, says that having a d/Deaf teacher is “really nice; for that one hour once a week, there is almost only silence, and I get to really immerse myself in BSL.”

In addition to recruiting d/Deaf teachers, lessons are now held in classroom-style spaces at Robinson College, which is a more accessible and suitable environment. Beyond teaching BSL, we have embedded discussions on the history of Sign languages and their inseparable connection to Deaf communities.

Deaf and disabled students deserve a space where they feel represented and understood. This means providing a space for d/Deaf students who are new to BSL for whom oralism was prioritised (like myself) and for those who have become d/Deaf at later stages in life and wish to learn to aid communication and connect with their identity. Kirstie Stage is an example of this. She shares, “Whilst I am deaf, I am not a native signer and learning to sign a few years ago… was the best decision I have ever made!” She adds that learning BSL “has allowed me to make friends in the Deaf community, understand more about myself, and develop my skills in a new language.” Learning BSL has also inspired Kirstie’s academic work in which she has been exploring the lives of d/Deaf and disabled people in Britain. Despite her disappointing first encounter with CUSLS, she is now a member of the committee and strives for “greater emphasis on Deaf histories, culture and awareness”.

“Learning a few simple Signs and how to fingerspell can go a long way in making communication easier for Deaf people”

Kaavya Kanagarajah, CUSLS’s Treasurer for the past two years, reflects “just how much the society had grown in just one year”, as the society now has a “bigger role than just running BSL lessons”. This speaks to the wider effort of raising awareness around Sign languages and d/Deafness, including ’sharing information about their [the d/Deaf community’s] struggles and maybe also about things they celebrate/unique ways they may celebrate things (e.g. Deaf Rave and Deaffest).”

Communication should be a two-way street. Learning a few simple Signs and how to fingerspell can go a long way in making communication easier for Deaf people. Sign languages are beautiful, expressive, 3D languages, and just as there are many different spoken languages, there are also many different Sign languages across the world and even regional differences within countries.

However, throughout history, d/Deaf people and their languages have been marginalised. The oralist movement, championed by Alexander Graham Bell, sought to suppress Sign languages in favour of speech and lip-reading. He propagated eugenicist notions, wishing to prevent Deaf intermarriage as he feared the ‘contamination’ of the human race. Later in history, the Nazis, notorious eugenicists, sterilised hundreds of thousands of Deaf people. Yet the closest way Bell sought to eradicate Deafness was through oralism. At the 1880 Milan Conference, oral education was declared superior to manual education, influencing widespread bans on the use of Sign languages in schools. Children were punished for using Sign language, and many Deaf teachers lost their jobs, and the number of Deaf professionals – writers, lawyers and doctors – declined. The ableism of the oral movement and the propagation of such ableist notions served to eradicate Deaf language and culture.

“Deafness is not a deficit, and our community has a rich culture with its own language, and my Deafness is now something I take pride in”

The harm of this ableist idea that Sign is inferior to speech and that d/Deaf people need to learn speech and lip reading to integrate into the hearing world is still seen today, leading to d/Deaf people believing our value is defined by our ability to fit in with and communicate like our hearing peers. Due to her husband’s intent on ‘fixing’ her, Alexander Graham Bell’s wife, Mabel Hubbard, who was deaf, learnt speech and verbal communication, while Bell did not make efforts to eradicate the stigma surrounding her deafness. Mabel even shut herself off from other deaf people in the hopes of concealing her deafness. Yet this self-stigmatisation of d/Deaf and disabled people reflects a broken society rather than broken people. Even Helen Keller initially adopted Bell’s view of herself as “an inspirational but broken human being”; I have felt these effects myself, internalising the notion of being ‘broken’. But Deafness is not a deficit, and our community has a rich culture with its own language, and my Deafness is now something I take pride in.

The legacy of oralism still influences how many in the hearing world view d/Deafness. There are some in the medical and educational professions who view d/Deaf children as ‘defective hearing people’ and see d/Deafness as something that needs to be fixed. These hearing people don’t always see the culture and importance of Sign language: 95% of congenitally d/Deaf children are born into hearing families who do not know Sign language and know little about d/Deafness and Deaf culture. They are often steered away from learning Sign languages, pursuing oralism only through speech therapy instead, as was the case for my twin sister and me.

However, research shows that Sign languages aid cognitive development and language acquisition, particularly for d/Deaf children. Language deprivation—the lack of access to a natural language during critical developmental years—has profound cognitive and social impacts, proving the importance of early exposure to Sign language. Our hearing devices do not restore hearing, nor do they mean we hear the same way hearing people do. Yet people think we are not ‘deaf’ if we can speak and ‘hear’ through our hearing devices. There is a lack of awar­eness that Sign languages can give us total and unambiguous access to a visual language. Deaf children need language, not just speech. Language goes much deeper and goes beyond being able to say words or pronounce sounds. There’s the assumption that what normal looks like is hearing and verbal communication. Deaf people often experience feelings of isolation and anxiety in the hearing world, where we constantly miss out on conversations and are dismissed when asking for things to be repeated and explained.

The transformation of the Cambridge University Sign Language Society has shown how meaningful change can foster inclusivity and cultural respect, and I hope our society continues to grow in this direction. By centring d/Deaf educators, enhancing accessibility, and deepening engagement with d/Deaf history and culture, the society has shifted from a well-meaning but flawed environment into a more genuinely inclusive space. The changes are not just about learning a language but aim to dismantle harmful legacies, advocate for d/Deaf representation, and build understanding across d/Deaf and hearing communities.