CITS Shares Experience of Developing Accessible Linguistic Environment with Educational Community of Our Region

“Nothing about us without us” – such a motto was chosen by the Caspian Higher School of Interpreting and Translation for presentation of the results of the school’s project on the development of a barrier-free linguistic environment. “Nothing about us without us” – this phrase is being heard on international platforms and forums more and more often, calling on academic, scientific, expert and business communities to become barrier-free in every sense of the word. After all, it is impossible to talk about people with special needs if these people themselves do not participate in the dialogue.

On April 23, the Caspian Higher School of Interpreting and Translation held a special event at the Boiling Point Center of Astrakhan State University to highlight the progress made by the school in the development of an accessible environment, including (but not limited to) the linguistic one. Anna Fedotova, ASU Vice-Rector for Research Activities, and Leonid Ogul, Deputy of the State Duma of the RF Federal Assembly, addressed the event participants with welcoming speeches. The deputy told the audience about his personal experience of interaction with deaf and hard-of-hearing people and about the projects that have already been implemented in Astrakhan Region to help people with hearing disabilities.

At the beginning of the event, the participants were offered a short interactive game. The organizers handed out earplugs to the audience and suggested that they literally “immersed themselves in silence” for a minute, experiencing the inability to hear what was happening around them and what people were discussing next to them. Thus, CITS showed the participants that deafness or poor hearing is not something that “happens only to others”, it can occur in life of every person and one need to learn to live with this and “hear” the world around them. The school also showed that hearing people must be able to hear the deaf and hard-of-hearing people who, of course, also speak their own special language of signs. In her brief presentation, CITS Director Ulyana Savelieva told the audience about the Russian sign language translation training course within the framework of programme “Basic Knowledge of Russian Sign Language and Culture of the Deaf Community”, which just ended the day before, and then gave the floor to the participants of the course, who shared their impressions of the training and the changes that occurred in them after the immersion in the world of signs. The participants even made a present to the guests of the event – simultaneous sign singing of Viktor Tsoi’s famous song “Our Hearts Require Changes”, making it clear to the audience that our society has long been ripe for social changes and an accessible environment for everyone.

Nothing about us without us. Following this principle, CITS had invited special and very important guests – representatives of the Astrakhan branch of the All-Russia Society of the Deaf. Chair of the Astrakhan branch of the organization Tatyana Borisova addressed the audience through sign language translation and focused the attention of the participants on the particular importance of the CITS projects for Astrakhan Region – there is an acute shortage of sign language interpreters in the region. Inclusion of Russian sign language and RSL translation into the higher school curricula in the future will help expand the participation of deaf and hard-of-hearing people in public life of the region.

The second project, mentioned by the CITS director, is related to the school’s social mission – to help partner organizations in implementing socially important projects. At the end of 2020, CITS MA students and trainers translated the documentary Moment by moment. This documentary is about the difficult life of wheelchair athlete Molly Hale, who, despite the existing health restrictions, is the executive director of the Ability Production company and has the 5th Dan in Aikido; she is also a member of the Disability Working Group of the International Aikido Federation. In April, the work on the film dubbing and subtitling in Russian was completed, and the first showing of the film was organized at ASU on April 23 – this was a decision of Molly Hale herself, who expressed gratitude to CITS and ASU for their selfless work. This film will be shown on Russian channels and conferences and distributed through various media as motivational and educational material.

Before the film screening, the audience was welcomed by Vitaly Petelin, President of Astrakhan Regional Public Organization for Harmonious Personаl Development Move-1 and Head of the working group of interdepartment committee for control, implementation and unification of programmes for the development of an accessible environment, inclusion, rehabilitation and habilitation of disabled people in Astrakhan region within the international project Team Special. Move-1, represented by Vitaly Petelin, shows great interest in cooperating with ASU in various projects aimed at developing inclusion not only within the university, but in the whole Astrakhan Region, with the possibility to create a model of implementing similar projects in other regions of Russia. There are already first outlines of future mutual work in different fields, starting with implementation of an adaptive Aikido programme at the level of the International Aikido Federation and the Aikido headquarter (Hombu, Tokyo) up to the development, implementation and production of the equipment for special-need people.

The film Moment by Moment was translated precisely within the framework of the cooperation with his working group. Addressing the audience, Vitaly Petelin encouraged everyone to get involved in projects for development of the inclusive environment more actively and, most importantly, to involve their relatives and friends with special needs, for whom the Team Special movement has many interesting projects and opportunities for improving the quality of life. The main thing here is their own desire to overcome barriers and the desire to move forward, moment by moment.

By the way, the film Moment by Moment left quite an impression on the participants of the event. The incredible willpower of Molly Hale, her endless energy and desire to live, the boundless support of her family and friends is exactly what people who find themselves in any crisis situation should see, especially in the current difficult times. And thanks to the efforts of CITS, the Russian audience will see the film.

The speech by Ulyana Savelieva, Director of Caspian Higher School of Interpreting and Translation, and Vitaly Petelin, President of Move-1, resonated with the participants of the event. Thus, the representatives of Astrakhan Governorate Technical College that took part in the event invited its participants to attend and probably become volunteers at the 2nd Interuniversity Championship of Professional Skills among People with Disabilities and Special Needs. That means that CITS will keep implementing new projects and take another step towards a barrier-free environment for everyone.