Miss-Delectable
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http://www.24dash.com/content/news/viewNews.php?navID=7&newsID=3583
A northern city's disabled and deaf community are being urged to record their experiences for a pioneering new history project.
English Heritage and the Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People (GMCDP) are opening a unique collection of photos, posters and books chronicling the experiences of disabled and deaf people across the UK.
Thy want people from both communities to talk about how life has changed as the disability rights movement has made progress towards equality.
The interviews will eventually be used to help educate the wider community about the lives of disabled and deaf people.
The English Heritage outreach officer for the North West, Pat Burke, said: "Historians have tended to ignore the lives of deaf people and disabled people.
"The result is not only that future generations have no real picture of what life is like for these communities, but also that these people's contributions to society are hidden.
"The project will start to put that imbalance right and help complete the picture about the impact of the culture, heritage and experience of disabled people. We are giving deaf and disabled people in Manchester the chance to write their lives into the history books."
Interviews with Deaf people will be carried out in British Sign Language (BSL) and sessions are being captured on video so current forms of BSL will survive the passage of time.
The project is being co-ordinated by Brian Kokoruwe at GMCDP, who is himself deaf. He will be conducting the deaf interviews.
He said: "We think this is the first time that something like this has ever been attempted in Manchester and it is long overdue. The interviews that we record will go a long way to preserving the knowledge, experiences and changing attitudes towards disabled people in the city over the last 30 years. It's a golden opportunity for people to literally make history."
The project is being financed with contributions from English Heritage and Manchester City Council, with technical support from the North West Sound Archive and Breakthrough UK, an organisation offering support to disabled people.
A northern city's disabled and deaf community are being urged to record their experiences for a pioneering new history project.
English Heritage and the Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People (GMCDP) are opening a unique collection of photos, posters and books chronicling the experiences of disabled and deaf people across the UK.
Thy want people from both communities to talk about how life has changed as the disability rights movement has made progress towards equality.
The interviews will eventually be used to help educate the wider community about the lives of disabled and deaf people.
The English Heritage outreach officer for the North West, Pat Burke, said: "Historians have tended to ignore the lives of deaf people and disabled people.
"The result is not only that future generations have no real picture of what life is like for these communities, but also that these people's contributions to society are hidden.
"The project will start to put that imbalance right and help complete the picture about the impact of the culture, heritage and experience of disabled people. We are giving deaf and disabled people in Manchester the chance to write their lives into the history books."
Interviews with Deaf people will be carried out in British Sign Language (BSL) and sessions are being captured on video so current forms of BSL will survive the passage of time.
The project is being co-ordinated by Brian Kokoruwe at GMCDP, who is himself deaf. He will be conducting the deaf interviews.
He said: "We think this is the first time that something like this has ever been attempted in Manchester and it is long overdue. The interviews that we record will go a long way to preserving the knowledge, experiences and changing attitudes towards disabled people in the city over the last 30 years. It's a golden opportunity for people to literally make history."
The project is being financed with contributions from English Heritage and Manchester City Council, with technical support from the North West Sound Archive and Breakthrough UK, an organisation offering support to disabled people.