Driving Instructor who knows all the signs.

Wes Wright, Business editor, Bolton News Jan 2009 http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/

DRIVING instructor Steve Swinton was furious when he heard a young deaf man had been refused lessons.
He set about learning the basics of British Sign Language but found the only course available was in a weekly mother and toddler’s group.
He said: “It caused a bit of a stir at first but I soon mixed and later I went on to attend an advanced course.”

Now the 54 year-old combines running his own Castle Hill School of Motoring with training would-be driving instructors and has been teaching hearing impaired learner drivers for 15 years.

The father of three reckons he is one of only 50 instructors out of 43,000 in Britain who use signing to teach deaf people to drive and says the skill has gained him extra business as news of his signing ability spread.

Now he wants to set up a course teaching BSL to other instructors and says learning sign language has helped his business over the years.
“Around 10 to 15 per cent of my learners are deaf or hearing impaired.
“I sit further forward turned towards the learner and use my hands instead of talking to tell the drivers what I want them to do and it works very well.
“They can see me signing in their peripheral vision and in some ways it works better than talking does.

“I would eventually like to set up a course for those instructors who want to learn BSL as it a very useful skill which can help their business.”
A former Breightmet High School pupil, Mr Swinton worked as a mechanical engineer but after being made redundant he decided to set up his own driving school.
“I wanted to work for myself and that way nobody could make me redundant and for me it has been a very good move.
“I knew there would more business avenues to explore than just teaching people the basic L-test and now I teach instructors and hearing impaired and deaf people.”

He is a top Grade 6 driving instructor, an advanced driving instructor and supervising examiner and is on the Official Register of Driving Instructor Trainers (Ordit).

A See Hear programme featuring Mr Swinton was broadcast on BBC 2 on Wednesday January 28th 2009 at 1pm.

Stephen P. Swinton A.D.I. Dip D.I. Cert F.Ed.
Diamond Advanced Instructor/Supervising Examiner.
www.aditraining123.co.ukDriving and Deafness Forum Moderator.
www.Deaf247.co.uk

Learning The Highway Code with British SignLanguage - the Official DSA DVD and Book Pack

Book and 2 DVD Pack

Author:   Driving Standards Agency (DSA)

Publisher: TSO (The Stationery Office)

It is essential to safe and reliable transport that all road-users understand The Highway Code. This pack from the Driving Standards Agency is designed to help drivers, motorcyclists, cyclists, horse riders and pedestrians in the British Sign Language community to learn all the rules and key information.

This product includes:

• The Highway Code Rules DVD (Disc 1) - Rules for all road users.

• The Highway Code Signs and Annexes DVD (Disc 2) - Full explanations of the signs for warnings, directions, information and road works as well as a full annex.

• The Official Highway Code (Book) - The latest official wording, authorised by Parliament.

From the Driving Standards Agency, the people who set the tests.

» Watch a sample clip of the 'The Highway Code Rules DVD'.

System Requirements for 'The Highway Code Rules DVD' and 'The Highway Code Signs and Annexes DVD':

• Language: BSL (British Sign Language)

• 'The Highway Code Rules DVD' Disk Format: DVD9

• 'The Highway Code Signs and Annexes DVD' Disk Format: DVD5

• 'The Highway Code Rules DVD' Duration: 4 hours 8 minutes

• 'The Highway Code Signs and Annexes DVD' Duration: 1 hour 53 minutes

• Picture Format: 16:9 FHA (Full Height Anamorphic)

• Region Code: 0

• Compatibility: DVD Players and Computer Consoles (please check your console for compatibility).