A UNIVERSITY of Dundee student is taking matters into his own hands by developing new sign language for specialist biological terms currently missing from formal British Sign Language (BSL).
Liam McMulkin, a second-year life sciences student who has been deaf since birth, came up with the idea after becoming frustrated at the lack of complex scientific terms in BSL.
BSL is used by approximately 87,000 people across the UK but the scientific lexicon effectively stops at advanced higher level in school, meaning complex terms which are used in cutting-edge research have to be spelled out to students like McMulkin.
The current finger-spelling of deoxyribonucleotide and deoxyribonucleoside means that the difference between each term is only made clear at the end, making them both confusing and potentially hazardous to students conducting experiments.
McMulkin said: “Being a deaf student can be challenging but I am thrilled to have the opportunity to meet world-leading scientists from across the university and develop signs that may make a significant difference to anyone dreaming of learning and leading in the sciences.”
The signs McMulkin develops are set to be reviewed at a national conference and may be adopted into BSL afterwards.
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