A deaf lady from birth, Debbie Jervis founded HandsOn as a BSL accredited Sign Language business in 2013.
Since then, the award winning business has gone from strength to strength.
In this exclusive Q&A, StressBustingExpert4Business™ gets to the heart of the matter by asking precisely what makes this inspiring woman tick and what stresses in particular affect the deaf community as a whole as well as in a work environment.
Debbie, what prompted you to establish HandsOn and what do you attribute its success to?
It was my late mother’s dream for me to run my own business. I had been working for 20 years as a freelance British Sign Language teacher for other services and she wanted me to take the leap and set up on my own. Sadly, she passed away 10 years ago, just as the business was getting started. I think she would be immensely proud of what I achieved. I attribute its success to; my passion and desire to break down communication barriers. The more people learn sign language and have deaf awareness can only be a good thing for the deaf community and for us as a society.
How have you seen Deaf Awareness evolve over the last half a century?
More and more people are becoming deaf aware and learning Sign Language compared to when I was young. I feel this is partly in thanks to a higher profile of our language being visible in the media. Strictly Come Dancing winner Rose Ayling-Ellis on prime-time BBC 1 and Yvonne Cobb, presenting the cooking slot in BSL for ITV’s This Morning. Increasingly we see BSL In-Vision Interpreters on television programmes and for important events such as the coronation of our King. The Department for Education is now developing a BSL GCSE in response to a successful campaign launched by the National Deaf Children’s Society. The timeline for the first students to be able to study this GCSE is September 2025. All of this is progress, but we still have a long way to go in breaking down the many barriers out there.
As a well recognised Deaf Awareness Ambassador running a successful sign language teaching business, what is your proudest achievement?
The proudest achievements in my work life are winning the regional winner – Signature award – for Teacher of the Year North East 2014 and also winner of the Signature Experienced Teacher of the Year Award 2017. But I have to say I am also at my proudest every time one of my students passes their exams and watching their progression gives me huge satisfaction.
What do deaf and hard of hearing people now report as being their biggest stresses and anxieties, and what methods or techniques do they apply to cope with them?
If we look back to the covid-19 pandemic and the compulsory wearing of facemasks this was a particularly stressful time for me and many deaf people. Lipreading is extremely difficult with a high percentage of this being guess work. Throw into the mix face masks/coverings and we are unable to see not only the mouth but also a great deal of the face. Facial expression is paramount to communication. Thankfully we are no longer required to do this. Technology and apps are a great way of overcoming communication barriers however not everyone is comfortable or able to use it.
What do you think are the core characteristics it is important for deaf and hard of hearing individuals to possess in 2023?
The world is fast paced in terms of technology, everything is online, and we even have remote interpreter services now. VRS (video relay services) are expanding rapidly and as a community it is important to learn how to use these apps/services for better access. A new service launched just this year to enable deaf people to make emergency calls via a remote BSL Interpreter. The service is 999BSL and up until this year Deaf people had no way of making an emergency call directly using their own language.
What does the future hold for HandsOn?
Expansion is always on my mind. I would also like to improve/update the Hands On website. I am currently looking for funding opportunities to support this so if there is anyone out there with any tips, please feel free to email me.
Who or what is your biggest inspiration and why?
Thomas Braidwood (1715-1806) was a Scottish educator and significant in the history of Deaf education as he founded Britain’s first school for the deaf. I believe education is key and this is where I get my love of teaching BSL and Deaf Awareness. It’s a wonderful experience to watch people learn and grow in confidence with a new language. For many people it is a challenge learning BSL because it is a visual language not based on sound. I find learners fall in love with BSL as it is something completely different and requires a great deal of facial expressions, this is our equivalent of vocal intonation.
If you could have done anything any differently in your life, what would it be and why?
I would like to have had the confidence to start the business sooner than I did. I have a dream to have a premises somewhere in Northumberland, where Sign language classes could be delivered, courses for the Deaf community to access delivered by deaf people themselves or interpreted, an interpreting booking services and with a social space for my informal social group NSBSL to meet.
If you had a time machine you could only use once, when would you travel back to and why?
I would travel back to the 19th Century to a place called Martha’s Vineyard which is an island off the south-eastern coast of Massachusetts, USA. It was during this period that the overall rate of deafness peaked with an estimated 1 in every 155 islanders being deaf. Everyone used a form of Sign Language called Martha’s Vineyard Sign Language and so all islanders could communicate with each other. A Deaf utopia, no one being left out and all access between hearing and deaf residents. I went to four different shops last weekend and each time I asked staff a question about an item I was looking to purchase they could not understand me, and we ended up going round in circles – this was so stressful. I would love to travel back in time to Martha’s Vineyard and experience daily inclusivity, no access requirements or waiting for this to be put in place. This is how life should be!
And finally, if you could be one person in the world for a day, who would it be and why?
The truly inspirational and important person in Deaf history for me is Dot Miles. Many of your readers will not know or realise the significance of Dot to the Deaf community. Dot was a poet, activist and a pioneer of BSL poetry. Her work is beautiful to watch. You can find out more about her online and watch some of her amazingly talented work.
If anyone relates to or would like further information in relation to the above, Debbie or HandsOn, or is interested in learning sign language or incorporating it into their business operations, please reach out in confidence via our "Contact" section