“More than Words: Communication for All” campaign.

PRESS RELEASE

CONTACT: Dr Hannah Tweed, 07894523065

AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEW ON THURS 4th SEPT:
Dr Hannah Tweed, Manager, Scottish Sensory Hub, the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (1) – leading the More than Words campaign.

Issy McGrath, Chair of Deafblind Scotland and long-time campaign for the rights of Deafblind people. Issy lives with Usher Syndrome. She was born severely Deaf and her vision started reducing later in life - she is now completely blind. She faced barriers in learning Braille and accessing Tactile British Sign Language to help make the transition from a single sensory loss to dual sensory loss easier to manage.

Elaine Henson, Guide for Issy McGrath. Elaine supports people who are Deafblind, ensuring inclusive communication is key within all aspects of her work. Without inclusive communication, people with Deafblindness cannot access information, express themselves, or participate fully in society.

John Whitfield is 67 and from Angus. He has been Deaf from birth and Deafblind for 50 years. He's faced communication barriers all his life. He will bring his assistance dog.

Lauren Gilmour, Deaf Awareness Advisor at Forth Valley Sensory Centre and Director of Little Signs Ltd. Lauren's son was identified as Deaf at birth. There was no support for learning alternative forms of communication, only speech. Lauren has had to spend tens of thousands of pounds to communicate with her son so that he can express himself.

Toni McDermott began losing her hearing when studying as a mature student at college. There was often no access to subtitles/captions which often made achieving her degree feel impossible. Toni continues to experience barriers to accessing services where she is expected to communicate by phone with no alternative form of communication available.

Put the pieces together – campaigners call for legal change on equal communication, backed by hundreds of signatories

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