Neighbours of a local deaf girl in Worcester have rallied so she can trick or treat for the first time.
Ada Hawkes, now aged six, was diagnosed as being profoundly deaf at just 18 months old.
She always wanted to participate in the tradition on the 31st of October with her mother Tilly, but the pair have been wary about barriers to communication as British Sign Language (BSL) is Ada’s first language.
Trick or treating can also pose obstacles for the deaf community because of the darkness and mask-wearing, which makes lip reading and communication more difficult.
Cadbury Fingers and the National Deaf Children’s Society has partnered with Tilly, who runs Learning.Adas.Language, to encourage their community to learn BSL ahead of Halloween and be as inclusive as possible for those who are hard of hearing.
So far, they have encouraged 60 per cent of the households in her neighbourhood to learn BSL and help Ada have her first trick or treating experience
All residents received a package to learn Halloween themed BSL phrases – such as ‘trick or treat’ and ‘you look spooky’.
Those participating have displayed in their window that they are learning BSL, with expert sign-linguists visiting residents to support their progress ahead of spooky season.
Speaking about the experience, Tilly said: “We haven’t taken Ada trick or treating before as we’ve been wary that there could be barriers in communication with other households, and we haven’t wanted her to feel left out.
“The fact that our street now knows a little BSL, we’re really looking forward to taking her out trick or treating for the first time.
“Having her neighbours communicate with her in BSL is going to be so exciting.”
It comes after research of 2,000 adults found 59 per cent have never used any BSL before – and 67 per cent admit they would struggle to communicate with a deaf person.
While 71 per cent wouldn’t even be confident to greet someone with BSL.
In fact, 33 per cent have typed messages on their phone to communicate, with 61 per cent speaking slowly to help deaf people to lip read.
While a separate survey of 400 people from the deaf community found one in four have never trick or treated, and as a result, 43 per cent felt like they missed out.
To help bridge the gap between hearing and deaf people at Halloween, Cadbury’s Fingers has translated Halloween BSL expressions which are available to learn online as part of the Sign With Fingers Big and Small initiative.
Anastasia Lutskovskaya from Cadbury Fingers said: “Just knowing even basic BSL can make a deaf person feel more included in moments of sharing and celebration.
“That’s why, at Halloween, when costumes and masks create extra barriers for deaf and those with hearing loss to interact, we wanted to encourage people to learn a little BSL.
“To help people in their BSL journey, we’ve hosted Halloween themed phrases on our site, so more people can feel included.”
