CBeebies- Sign language lady

[kayleigh]

We turned CBeebies on today and there was a lady on the right hand side of the tv screen using sign language. I have seen this once before months ago and then it never came back. I think my boys were playing with the remotes this morning so am wondering if this is something you can "switch" on and off. And if so how ?
Thanks

I think they're only on sometimes. Seems to be Wednesday afternoons that I come across them regularly. Ds doesn't usually watch Cbeebies on a Sunday, but I did spot several sign language bods today. I know you can switch subtitles on and off, but I think these signers are part of the schedule.

Its only in sundays maybe?

I think its early on in the morning they do this.

They usually appear at weekends for some reason. I wish they DID have an off switch.

It's Sunday mornings that is the regular time on cbeebies, and no you can't switch it off. It is for the benefit of hearing impaired children and their parents and others who use sign language and can therefore share the programmes together and is obviously aimed at pre-schoolers who can't read subtitles yet. Sorry coppertop if I'm taking umbridge unnecessarily if you were joking, but I don't think that it's unreasonable to have signed programmes on the tv, its only for a few programmes, briefly at the weekend, and really it isn't much to ask, and I don't actually think that it's enough programmes that it is done for.

Have to agree with you WedgiesMum, I think it's a great idea. I have a friend who is deaf, as is her partner, but their little girl can hear. Haven't talked to her about cbeebies, but I suspect she'd think it was a good thing to have signers.

I think it's Wednesdays from 4-5pm and Sunday from 9 - 10am (or 8 - 9) I can't remember exactly. I used to tape it for a friend with a deaf chid who couldn't otherwise enjoy, say, the Tweenies - you can't lipread them!

But that's just it - I AM hearing-impaired/deaf!! The general guidelines for TV signing state that signers should not be a distraction. This is why signers usually wear darker clothes. You really only need the upper body and face (expression is important in SL). CBeebies shrink the screen and then block the rest with the signer so that you can't follow the story.

Have to say that ds loves the signing ladies. We've been using baby sign language with him since 7 months and from about 9 months, he's really got the hang of it. He's a hearing baby btw. Now at 14 months, he can recognise some of the simple signs like "story", "music", "song", "cat', "dog" etc and will point, make the sign and say the word. Great stuff IMO.

Ooops, sorry Coppertop. Hope I haven't offended you .

Ooops, didn't mean to offend, sorry!

But have friends who have used it with their hearing impaired pre schooler and found it helpful.

I'm not offended in the slightest. I think the signing can be a really good thing. I just think it would also be good if (like subtitles) they could be switched on and off. That way they could be an option for ALL programmes. Even subtitles can be annoying when they block the screen.

Thank you ladies. I obviously don't turn it on as often as I thought as i hadn't seen this before ! I think it's great for the hearing impaired to have signed programs but as coppertop said, this was blocking some of the visuals and my ds2 was getting VERY annoyed !!
Shall stick to videos on a sunday.

Thanks again.

I too think it's good to have the signers on - it teaches my children that not all children can hear properly. I'm hearing impaired myself although not so bad that I'd use signers - I'm a subtitle girl myself.