This week we look at a deaf mother in South Africa who has spent 15 years trying to get hearing care, a London charity filling the gap when NHS interpreters are not booked, a bilingual BSL play directed by Charlotte Arrowsmith, two interpreter regulators led by women joining together, sign language emergency and phone services across Africa, and deaf dancers in Burkina Faso, where the women are missing from the story.

A deaf mother’s 15 years trying to get hearing care

Health-e News in South Africa reported on 29 September on Maria Sikhosana, 43, a single mother of 12-year-old twins in Orange Farm, Gauteng. She became deaf in 2010, at 28, after domestic violence. She was first assessed at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital that year, but lost contact with hearing services.

She does not use South African Sign Language and relies on family members to make phone calls for her. Between June and August 2026 she tried three times to get back into hearing services. The Deaf-Care Healthcare Initiative South Africa is now helping her reach an audiology clinic in Lenasia.

For deaf women: Maria’s story shows how a woman who becomes deaf as an adult can fall between hearing services and the signing deaf community, with no language that works for her and children depending on her. In the UK, your GP can refer you to NHS audiology, and lipreading classes and BSL courses can help you connect with other deaf people. If domestic abuse is part of your story, SignHealth runs a domestic abuse service for deaf people.

Read the full report on Health-e News

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No interpreter at four in five NHS appointments

The Jewish Deaf Association (JDA) in London is training its British Sign Language (BSL) support workers to interpret at medical appointments. The Jewish Chronicle reported on 30 September that, of 205 NHS hospital and GP appointments the charity recorded between January and August 2026, only 21% had an interpreter there.

Head of Deaf Services Janine Greensite said that when staff ask a surgery to book an interpreter, they are sometimes told “Sorry, we don’t do that.” In one case a client arrived for major cancer surgery with no interpreter booked, and a JDA worker had to step in so he could discuss the operation and give consent. NHS services are required to meet deaf patients’ communication needs under the Accessible Information Standard.

For deaf women: smear tests, breast screening, pregnancy and maternity care all depend on clear information and real consent, and many of us also go along to appointments for our children or parents. Ask your surgery to put “needs a BSL interpreter” on your record so it shows every time you book, and ask for the booking to be confirmed in writing. If an interpreter does not turn up, you can ask to rebook and complain through the practice or the hospital’s Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS).

Read the full report on The Jewish Chronicle

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Women at the heart of a bilingual BSL play

The Limping Chicken published a review on 28 September of Nick Payne’s play Constellations, directed by Charlotte Arrowsmith and commissioned by Hear Art. Kitty Devlin plays Marianne, a physicist, and Stephen Collins plays Roland, a beekeeper. The production moves between BSL without voice, Sign Supported English and spoken English, with creative captions showing images such as beehives and the stars.

Reviewer Mary-Jayne Russell de Clifford praised the strong BSL and deaf culture in the play and noted that the audience ranged from deaf BSL users to hearing people who do not sign.

For deaf women: a woman directing, a woman in the lead role and a woman reviewing for a deaf audience. If you want to see more work like this, look out for Hear Art and for signed performances at your local theatre, and tell the theatre when you enjoy one so they keep booking them.

Read the full review on The Limping Chicken

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Two interpreter regulators, both led by women, to merge

The National Registers of Communication Professionals working with Deaf and Deafblind People (NRCPD) and the Scottish Register of Language Professionals with the Deaf Community (SLRPDC) announced on 28 September that they will merge. The joined body will keep the NRCPD name and set up a Scottish Regulatory Council to advise its trustees, the first of four planned national councils.

Theresa Thomas-Morton is NRCPD’s chief executive and Mags Greig chairs SLRPDC. The aim is to reduce the patchwork of regulation across the UK. No date has been given for the merger, and the third regulator, RBSLI, is not part of it.

For deaf women: you can ask for a female interpreter, especially for intimate health appointments, smear tests, maternity care or anything to do with abuse. Say so when the booking is made. A registered interpreter has to follow a code of conduct, and the regulator is where you can complain if one breaks confidentiality or lets you down.

Read the full report on Liam O’Dell’s website

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Sign language emergency and phone services across Africa

Vodacom Group, a mobile phone company, set out on 29 September how it is expanding services for deaf and hard of hearing customers across its eight African markets. In South Africa it runs a relay contact centre with agents trained in South African Sign Language, an emergency app that connects to ER24 Emergency Services, and a 12-module sign language course made with deaf educators and the National Institute for the Deaf.

In Kenya, it is working with Signs Media Kenya to offer on-demand sign language interpreting inside the M-PESA money app. Tanzania has a contact centre with signing agents, and Egypt has sign language customer service. Dr Karen Smit is Vodacom’s accessibility lead.

For deaf women: being able to call for help yourself, without relying on a partner or family member to phone for you, is a safety issue. In the UK you can contact 999 through the 999 BSL service, or register for emergencySMS by texting “register” to 999. Set it up now, before you ever need it.

Read the full report on TechAfrica News

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Deaf dancers in Burkina Faso: where are the women?

Africanews reported on 30 September on deaf dancers in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, who train with the organisation Au Delà de l’Handicap. Instructor Yaya Sanou developed a technique called Vibra-Signe: dancers feel the rhythm through vibrations in the floor and follow his body gestures. Their troupe, Fientan, which means “without disability” in Dioula, won gold for dance creation at the 2023 Francophone Games in Kinshasa.

For deaf women: the report names only men. We would like to know about the women in the troupe, and about deaf women dancers closer to home. If you dance, or know a deaf woman who does, tell us. It could make a good Thrive Live conversation.

Read the full report on Africanews

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That is the roundup for this week. Seen a story we should cover? Tell us at thrivelive@cambsdeaf.org.

This roundup was researched and drafted with the help of AI, and checked by the Thrive Live team before publishing.