10/06/14

Engaging deaf people in science

By: Luisa Massarani

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<h1>Engaging deaf people in science</h1>
<h4>By: Luisa Massarani</h4>
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<p>Making science accessible to everyone is a challenge for <a href="https://www.scidev.net/communication/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">science communicators</a> around the world. And it is even harder to reach some people because they can’t hear the language used to explain science. Vivian Rumjanek, a biochemist at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil, argues that deaf people are significantly excluded from science, particularly because Brazilian Sign Language — called Libras — contains few scientific terms.</p>
<p>This audio slideshow reports on Rumjanek’s work to create a glossary of new scientific signs in Libras and to offer deaf people hands-on activities in the laboratory.<br />
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<a href="http://www.scidev.net/america-latina/"><em>This piece was produced by SciDev.Net’s Latin America & Caribbean desk.</em></a></p>

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<p>This article was originally published on <a href="https://www.scidev.net" target="_blank">SciDev.Net</a>. Read the <a href="https://www.scidev.net/global/multimedia/engaging-deaf-people-in-science/" target="_blank">original article</a>.</p>
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Making science accessible to everyone is a challenge for science communicators around the world. And it is even harder to reach some people because they can’t hear the language used to explain science. Vivian Rumjanek, a biochemist at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil, argues that deaf people are significantly excluded from science, particularly because Brazilian Sign Language — called Libras — contains few scientific terms.

This audio slideshow reports on Rumjanek’s work to create a glossary of new scientific signs in Libras and to offer deaf people hands-on activities in the laboratory.

This piece was produced by SciDev.Net’s Latin America & Caribbean desk.