School for Deaf pledges support for Strictly star
CHILDREN from the Royal School for the Deaf Derby have recorded a good luck message for actress Rose Ayling-Ellis, the first deaf contestant on Strictly Come Dancing.
The pupils have been “hugely inspired” by the energetic performances from the EastEnders star.
Now they hope that Rose, who is partnered with professional Giovanni Pernice, will go all the way to pick up the glitterball trophy and help change the myth that deaf people cannot enjoy music or dance.
Head teacher Helen Shepherd said: “Although our students are deaf, they are keen music makers and deafness is certainly not a barrier to making or appreciating music.
“Rosie has been hugely inspirational and she’s living proof to our pupils that literally anything is possible – deafness is absolutely not a barrier to success.
“You can appreciate musicality in a multitude of ways, through vibrations, gestures, body movements, rhythms and even by reading music on the printed page.
“It’s rare to see a deaf person on mainstream television, and to see her signing and wearing hearing aids is so refreshing – and important – for our children to see.”
Children at the school enjoy signing in a deaf choir and have also taken part in a research project with the University of Liverpool which allowed them to access music by feeling vibrations through their hands and feet through the use of vibrotactile equipment.
In deaf people the brain adapts to interpret sound and music in a way other than through messages from the ears.
Since deaf people lack one of the five senses, their other senses work together to make up for the loss of hearing. As a result, the part of the brain that recognises tactile feedback works harder. This makes deaf people more receptive to the vibrations from music.
Rose wears a hearing aid which allows her to pick up some of the music and she feels vibrations from the live band through the large dancefloor. She also counts in her head to help with timing and uses her partner’s body for guidance to stay in time with the rhythm.
All the staff at Strictly have received deaf awareness training and Rose has a British Sign Language interpreter with her at all times, including in training sessions.
During the show Rose uses signsupported English, which is a method of signing that follows the grammatical order of English.
Helen said: “When the right support is put in place deaf people can do their job as easily as anyone else, and Rosie is living proof of this.
“Her appearance on the show is changing people’s perceptions – our children are realising anything is possible and the public will hopefully realise this too. It would be so lovely to see Rosie lift the glitterball trophy – but actually she’s a winner in all our eyes already.”
Rosie will next take to the dancefloor this Saturday.