Auslan is not English

and I was firmly reminded of the fact yesterday.

There was a quite vigorous knock on the door yesterday afternoon. When I went to see who it was I found someone I know only slightly. We see one another in the supermarket occasionally. He has asked me where he might be able to find something on several occasions. Most of the time though he simply smiles at me.

He asks me rather than someone else because he is profoundly deaf. Several years ago I intervened when he was having a problem trying to make a member of the staff understand what he wanted. He knew what the item did but he did not know what to ask for and I managed to understand and explain. 

It was all a bit tense at the time. He was a complete stranger then and I was not sure what sort of reaction I would get. He thought I might know a lot more sign language than I actually ever knew. But, we muddled through somehow and he hasn't forgotten.  I am his preferred point of contact in the supermarket. 

Outside the supermarket our conversations have been nothing more than the briefest of social chit-chat - in signs.

He can read and write a limited amount but he knows his English language skills are not good. His spelling appears to be guess work.

So yesterday he turned up at the door. I didn't even know he knew where I lived and he was obviously very hesitant. Did he want to come in? No. He had his two dogs with him. We could talk outside. He needed some help.

He handed me an  official piece of correspondence, a speeding fine. As I have only ever seen him on a bicycle I was surprised. He was equally surprised and upset and angry. He made me understand very quickly. He doesn't drive. He hasn't got a licence. He has another medical condition which prevents that.

For anyone else it would be a problem dealt with by conversations with others. He had no idea what to do. It was only when, after much slow and careful explanation on his part that I realised that this man lives alone. He has no family. He seems to have very few friends - and they are deaf too. He works in a factory of some sort I think. What that is like I have no idea. 

And yes, he needs help with this. Someone must have given his name and address rather than their own and claimed they did not have their licence with them at the time.   

It was trying to explain what needed to be done that was so difficult. I managed to do  it in the end - a combination of signs, finger spelling and writing things down. He sat outside with his dogs while I typed things up and printed things off. I signed one letter. I gave him the pen to sign his name one the other and both the envelopes to take to the police station. He signed his thanks and went off.

At about five in the afternoon I had a phone call from the police. The big station is a considerable distance away but he had been worried enough to ride there after he had left me. This was a "courtesy call" from them to let me know that the problem had been solved. 

"How did you talk to him?" I was asked.

"With extreme difficulty. I have forgotten almost all the little sign language I once knew."

Auslan is another language. I am never going to really learn it. It takes years of practice. I might have the honour of having my own name-sign among a small group but that is entirely different from being able to converse freely with them. Their English is far better than my signing will ever be. Yesterday made me feel guilty that I have not made the effort to keep the tiny amount I once knew up - so that I could help if necessary.

What I would like to do though is find the person who gave that false name and address and put them in the position of not being able to communicate.