Jeff McWhinney
Encyclopedia
Jeff McWhinney is a leader
in the UK
deaf community
.
He was born in 1960, into a Deaf family in Belfast
, both his brother and sister are Deaf. His family did not escape the pain of The Troubles
in Northern Ireland
when loyalists
killed his cousin because she married a Roman Catholic. However, his family who used Northern Ireland Sign Language
(NISL) and English
, has Irish Sign Language
(ISL) friends and Jeff learned ISL on his fishing trips with his father’s friend Hugh Keenan. He says the result is he can communicate easily in American Sign Language
(ASL), French Sign Language
(LSF), ISL, and other sign language
s.
He was educated at the Jordanstown Schools
in Belfast
, where there was a teacher who also taught his father. He then went to Mary Hare Grammar School
for the Deaf in the 1970s.
After he left school, he returned in Belfast, and was frustrated by that Deaf club
s and organisations were not managed by deaf people. He started the Northern Ireland Workshop with the Deaf which invited speakers such as Paddy Ladd
and George Montgomery to speak
about Deaf liberation
.
While seeking employment in Northern Ireland, he encountered discrimination
due to his deafness. His big break in his career
within charities for deaf people, came about in 1984 when he worked for Breakthrough (now DeafPlus), a charity working towards integration between deaf and hearing people.
He career progressed, becoming the first Secretary
of the Euro Youth Deaf Council.
In 1995 he became Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the British Deaf Association
(BDA), one of the largest societies for deaf people in the UK. From this position, he was involved in gaining UK Government recognition of British Sign Language
as an official language.
He also became the Director of the Greenwich Association of Disabled People. Jeff has established eleven Deaf Image campaign groups in London and a number of sign language interpretation services.
He left his BDA management post in September 2004 to start up a new video
technology
enterprise, as Managing Director of Significan't (UK) Ltd. This company was considered to the fastest growing social enterprise staffed entirely by sign language users. He introduced the videophone to the deaf community and established the SignVideo Contact Centre, a centre which provides instant access to sign language interpreting through video conferencing. With the Greater London Authority and London Connects he succeeded in securing a grant of £500,000 from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's e-innovations programme. The SignVideo partners are CISCO, Tandberg, Prime Business Solutions and Tiger Communications. With this quartlet from the leading technology companies the platform developed by the SignVideo Contact Centre enabled full access by videoconferencing through many different avenues from the legacy ISDN videophones to the latest in 3G video mobiles. The SignVideo Contact Centre, was shortlisted for the prestigious national e-Government Awards for 2005 (winners to be announced at end of January 2006) the first deaf or disabled enterprise to receive this recognition.
Jeff McWhinney have pushed the transition of the British Deaf Association from a Deaf organisation (with the 'Wheelchair
Mentality') into a BSL organisation. In his September 2004 interview with SIGN MATTERS, he commented: "The word ‘Deaf’ has several different perceptions out there ranging from those deaf through old age to Deaf BSL users. Also there are hidden groups within the sign language community such as Children Of Deaf Adults (CODAs). Working for the sign language community means we can include all these people in our campaigns for language rights. A good quote I have used often express how I feel about this subject. ‘Hearing people love English and its richness however it is seen by the Deaf as a tool to achieve equality. But no-one realise that Deaf people love sign language and its richness in the same manner above!’ While the new vision is great, the real challenge for the new concept of Sign Language community is whether Deaf people are ready to accept that hearing sign language users belongs to this community. I led a group of Deaf youths in Finland
back in 1987 and someone in the group asked our guide how many staff in the Finnish Association of the Deaf were Deaf. The guy started counting, then asked ‘why do you want to know?’ I thought this was fantastic, that it didn’t matter to him. British Deaf people have yet to arrive at this stage and I look forward to that!"
Leadership
Leadership has been described as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task". Other in-depth definitions of leadership have also emerged.-Theories:...
in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
deaf community
Community
The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...
.
He was born in 1960, into a Deaf family in Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, both his brother and sister are Deaf. His family did not escape the pain of The Troubles
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
when loyalists
Ulster loyalism
Ulster loyalism is an ideology that is opposed to a united Ireland. It can mean either support for upholding Northern Ireland's status as a constituent part of the United Kingdom , support for Northern Ireland independence, or support for loyalist paramilitaries...
killed his cousin because she married a Roman Catholic. However, his family who used Northern Ireland Sign Language
Northern Ireland Sign Language
Northern Ireland Sign language is a sign language used mainly by Deaf people in Northern Ireland.NISL is described as being related to Irish Sign Language at the syntactic level while the lexicon is based on British Sign Language and American Sign Language .A number of practitioners see Northern...
(NISL) and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, has Irish Sign Language
Irish Sign Language
Irish Sign Language is the sign language of Ireland, used primarily in the Republic of Ireland. It is also used in Northern Ireland, though British Sign Language is also used. Irish Sign Language is more closely related to French Sign Language than to British Sign Language, which was first used...
(ISL) friends and Jeff learned ISL on his fishing trips with his father’s friend Hugh Keenan. He says the result is he can communicate easily in American Sign Language
American Sign Language
American Sign Language, or ASL, for a time also called Ameslan, is the dominant sign language of Deaf Americans, including deaf communities in the United States, in the English-speaking parts of Canada, and in some regions of Mexico...
(ASL), French Sign Language
French Sign Language
French Sign Language is the sign language of the deaf in the nation of France. According to Ethnologue, it has 50,000 to 100,000 native signers....
(LSF), ISL, and other sign language
Sign language
A sign language is a language which, instead of acoustically conveyed sound patterns, uses visually transmitted sign patterns to convey meaning—simultaneously combining hand shapes, orientation and movement of the hands, arms or body, and facial expressions to fluidly express a speaker's...
s.
He was educated at the Jordanstown Schools
Jordanstown Schools
Jordanstown Schools is a school for deaf children and children with visual impairments, including blindness. It is based in Jordanstown, north of Belfast, Northern Ireland...
in Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, where there was a teacher who also taught his father. He then went to Mary Hare Grammar School
Mary Hare Grammar School
Mary Hare School is a residential co-educational community special school for deaf pupils in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It consists of around 230 pupils from year 7 to year 13 . It was established in 1916 as Dene Hollow School for the Deaf in Burgess Hill, West Sussex...
for the Deaf in the 1970s.
After he left school, he returned in Belfast, and was frustrated by that Deaf club
Club
A club is an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal. A service club, for example, exists for voluntary or charitable activities; there are clubs devoted to hobbies and sports, social activities clubs, political and religious clubs, and so forth.- History...
s and organisations were not managed by deaf people. He started the Northern Ireland Workshop with the Deaf which invited speakers such as Paddy Ladd
Paddy Ladd
Dr. Paddy Ladd is a scholar, author, activist and researcher of Deaf culture . He is currently a lecturer and MSC Coordinator at the Centre for Deaf Studies at the University of Bristol . He held the Powrie V. Doctor Chair in Deaf Studies at Gallaudet University, Washington DC . He completed his Ph.D...
and George Montgomery to speak
Public speaking
Public speaking is the process of speaking to a group of people in a structured, deliberate manner intended to inform, influence, or entertain the listeners...
about Deaf liberation
Liberty
Liberty is a moral and political principle, or Right, that identifies the condition in which human beings are able to govern themselves, to behave according to their own free will, and take responsibility for their actions...
.
While seeking employment in Northern Ireland, he encountered discrimination
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
due to his deafness. His big break in his career
Career
Career is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a person's "course or progress through life ". It is usually considered to pertain to remunerative work ....
within charities for deaf people, came about in 1984 when he worked for Breakthrough (now DeafPlus), a charity working towards integration between deaf and hearing people.
He career progressed, becoming the first Secretary
Secretary
A secretary, or administrative assistant, is a person whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, communication & organizational skills. These functions may be entirely carried out to assist one other employee or may be for the benefit...
of the Euro Youth Deaf Council.
In 1995 he became Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the British Deaf Association
British Deaf Association
British Deaf Association is a deaf-led British charity that campaigns and advocates for deaf people who use British Sign Language.It was originally formed in 1890 by Francis Maginn, who was deaf himself...
(BDA), one of the largest societies for deaf people in the UK. From this position, he was involved in gaining UK Government recognition of British Sign Language
British Sign Language
British Sign Language is the sign language used in the United Kingdom , and is the first or preferred language of some deaf people in the UK; there are 125,000 deaf adults in the UK who use BSL plus an estimated 20,000 children. The language makes use of space and involves movement of the hands,...
as an official language.
He also became the Director of the Greenwich Association of Disabled People. Jeff has established eleven Deaf Image campaign groups in London and a number of sign language interpretation services.
He left his BDA management post in September 2004 to start up a new video
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
enterprise, as Managing Director of Significan't (UK) Ltd. This company was considered to the fastest growing social enterprise staffed entirely by sign language users. He introduced the videophone to the deaf community and established the SignVideo Contact Centre, a centre which provides instant access to sign language interpreting through video conferencing. With the Greater London Authority and London Connects he succeeded in securing a grant of £500,000 from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's e-innovations programme. The SignVideo partners are CISCO, Tandberg, Prime Business Solutions and Tiger Communications. With this quartlet from the leading technology companies the platform developed by the SignVideo Contact Centre enabled full access by videoconferencing through many different avenues from the legacy ISDN videophones to the latest in 3G video mobiles. The SignVideo Contact Centre, was shortlisted for the prestigious national e-Government Awards for 2005 (winners to be announced at end of January 2006) the first deaf or disabled enterprise to receive this recognition.
Jeff McWhinney have pushed the transition of the British Deaf Association from a Deaf organisation (with the 'Wheelchair
Wheelchair
A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, designed to be a replacement for walking. The device comes in variations where it is propelled by motors or by the seated occupant turning the rear wheels by hand. Often there are handles behind the seat for someone else to do the pushing...
Mentality') into a BSL organisation. In his September 2004 interview with SIGN MATTERS, he commented: "The word ‘Deaf’ has several different perceptions out there ranging from those deaf through old age to Deaf BSL users. Also there are hidden groups within the sign language community such as Children Of Deaf Adults (CODAs). Working for the sign language community means we can include all these people in our campaigns for language rights. A good quote I have used often express how I feel about this subject. ‘Hearing people love English and its richness however it is seen by the Deaf as a tool to achieve equality. But no-one realise that Deaf people love sign language and its richness in the same manner above!’ While the new vision is great, the real challenge for the new concept of Sign Language community is whether Deaf people are ready to accept that hearing sign language users belongs to this community. I led a group of Deaf youths in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
back in 1987 and someone in the group asked our guide how many staff in the Finnish Association of the Deaf were Deaf. The guy started counting, then asked ‘why do you want to know?’ I thought this was fantastic, that it didn’t matter to him. British Deaf people have yet to arrive at this stage and I look forward to that!"