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Jakarta Post

People learn sign language to communicate, empathize with deaf

Galih Pambudi, 34, suffered injuries to his mouth, throat and vocal chords in a motorbike accident back in 2005

Gisela Swaragita (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Fri, September 14, 2018

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People learn sign language to communicate, empathize with deaf

G

alih Pambudi, 34, suffered injuries to his mouth, throat and vocal chords in a motorbike accident back in 2005. After the accident, he developed a speech impediment and became depressed because of his inability to communicate as smoothly as before.

“To cope with my situation, I started to learn sign language,” he told The Jakarta Post over the telephone on Thursday.

At first he learned American Sign Language (ASL) through lessons with Ade Wirawan, an expert in sign language and prominent deaf figure. He also learned ASL independently through YouTube videos.

Afterwards, he found out that Indonesia had its own sign language that was different to ASL. Galih then learned the two versions of Indonesian sign language, namely Indonesian Sign Language (Bisindo) and the Indonesian Sign Language System (Sibi) from local non-government organization Movement for Welfare of Indonesian Deaf (Gerkatin), which used to provide free training during the weekly Car Free Day event in Jakarta every Sunday.

After years of therapy sessions, Galih can now speak normally again. After years of struggling to communicate, he has developed empathy for those who have hearing and speaking disabilities. He feels grateful that he now can communicate in sign language.

“Being fluent in sign language enables me to communicate with anyone and eliminates barriers between me and the deaf community,” he said.

Bisindo is a sign language that developed naturally among the deaf community in the country, while Sibi is a system used to interpret spoken language into certain gestures.

Laura Lesmana Wijaya, the head of the Indonesian Sign Language Center (Pusbisindo), which is also part of Gerkatin, said Bisindo was the more commonly used sign language among the deaf community. However, Sibi is the official variation that is used in schools for students with special needs.

“All [sign language translations of] news broadcast on television use Bisindo,” she told the Post.

Gatot Subroto resident Nindyaning Puspamelati, 23, said she was also motivated to learn sign language for personal reasons. She had long wanted to be able to communicate with her deaf cousin whose parents had gotten divorced. “Now I rarely see her,” Nindy said.

She regretted that back when she often saw her cousin, she could not communicate with her well enough to offer help during her difficult time.

“I hope I can see her again in the near future when I am already fluent in sign language,” she said.

Nindy said that she learned Bisindo via social media and YouTube channels of Indonesian sign language figures such as Surya Sahetapy, Amanda Farliany and Fitria.

Interest in learning sign language had grown among the public, Laura from Pusbisindo said. The organization has taught sign language to more than 1,000 trainees who do not have hearing or speech disabilities.

“Most of them are teachers at schools for students with special needs, or parents of deaf children,” she told the Post.

Being able to communicate using sign language had empowered the deaf community tremendously, she added.

Laura, who is deaf, said she was born into a deaf family. Her parents, sister and aunt are also deaf.

“Through sign language, we can access many aspects of life,” she said.

She added that Gerkatin was currently preparing a two-day event to commemorate International Sign Language Day on Sept. 22 and 23 that would involve seminars, a fun run and a bazaar to raise awareness and empathy toward those with disabilities.

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