Laura Norton and Mike Parr have helped raise awareness
Emmerdale are marking the UK’s annual Deaf Awareness Week with the help of co-stars Laura Norton and Mike Parr.
The week runs from May 4-10, and Emmerdale have released four informative videos featuring actor Laura Norton (Kerry Pollard) teaching her co-star Mike Parr (Ross Barton) British Sign Language (BSL).
Laura Norton explains: “I was thrilled when the idea for these videos came up. Deaf Awareness Week is important to us, as both of our children have been diagnosed with hearing loss. And they both wear hearing aids.
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“Every deaf person’s experience is different, but one thing that we wanted to do as they got older was learn sign language and teach them to use it as well.
“It’s a wonderful skill to have and it’s a beautiful language and Deaf Awareness Week promotes awareness and inclusivity for the deaf community. I’m also hopeful these videos, although a bit of fun, might encourage people to think about learning to sign too.”
Fellow actor Mike Parr was keen to get involved, adding that he was interested in learning after hearing Laura had been taking lessons.
Mike Parr added: “I was only too happy to agree when I was asked to create a video learning how to sign. Laura is one of the nicest, kindest, most warm, and caring people I’ve ever met. I was already aware that her two children had Usher Syndrome, and I know how important this is to her and her partner Mark.
“Laura is a great teacher, and I found our session quite easy to pick up, although I know I’ll have to practice to retain the information. My beautiful little daughter attends baby sensory classes where they are learning Makaton, so my family – myself, Izzy, and Susie will definitely try and keep it up as much as possible.
“I strongly believe we should learn sign language at school; it would be valuable and as useful as learning French, German, Spanish, or Latin. I’ve loved this experience, and I hope that we could even start a little web series or do a few more instructional videos together. There is a website https://www.british-sign.co.uk/ where you can easily start your BSL journey.”
Both of Laura’s children were diagnosed with Usher syndrome. It causes impairments to hearing and vision, and currently has no cure. Laura and Mark (Jordon) have continuously expressed their dedication to finding a cure, and work closely with the charity Cure Usher, that was founded by Jo Milne.
The actress has previously shared: “In the beginning, it was about our babies. And then you meet other families going through the same thing and it becomes about everyone else.
“It’s such a rare condition and so many people have never heard of it and this community deserves to have people fighting for them and helping raise funds.”
Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 8pm on ITV1 and is available to stream on ITVX.
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