NZSL Classes Subsidy Fund

With the NZ Sign Language Classes Subsidy Fund, DCNZ had 26 families and up to 60 people accessing our NZ Sign Language Classes Subsidy Fund for the funding year to attend and learn NZSL with multiple organisations/sole traders who deliver NZSL learning within Aotearoa.

DCNZ has had such a positive response to our funding to help our tamariki and families learn and we hope to be able to carry on with funding this fabulous language into the future.

Feedback from families has been really positive.

Family One: Inger and Kaia’s Story

Ella and Kaia practicing their NZSL learning with their teacher Monica.

Inger and her daughter Kaia have received funding for NZSL learning through DCNZ for over 4 years now and they had this to say “We’ve really appreciated the funding to support Kaia’s sign language learning. Kaia wears cochlear implants, so without them she is deaf and relies on sign language to communicate. She’s been doing at-home lessons with Monica, and having her friend Ella join her has made the experience even more enjoyable. They have lots of laughs and practice together, which has made a big difference. Thanks again for supporting this important learning!”

Family Two: Renae and Matty’s Story 

Renae sending a heart to DCNZ for their support with NZSL funding for her and her son Matty.

Renae and her son Matty said “Thank you so much for the funding that's allowed me to learn NZSL. I have been able to start using it with my son Matty who has a mild/moderate conductive hearing loss. Although he can still speak and hear English, the use of NZSL makes my son so much more engaged in meaningful conversations that support his sense of belonging as a child with hearing loss. So a big thank you for the support. Ngā mihi
Renae."

Family Three: Tania and Riley’s Story 

Riley and Tania showing kindergarten friends how to us NZSL.

Tania and her family had this to say about how DCNZ funding has helped.

“I have been using the DCNZ funding to attend night classes for the last 2 years now. I would say I am intermediate level at best, but I'm still really enjoying learning this beautiful language. Keeping up with the lessons has given me the confidence to communicate with my Deaf daughter Riley, who is 4.5 years old. She has a single CI and speaks very well, but at the end of the day when she is not wearing her CI she can't hear anything and so for our family to be able to communicate with her in NZSL is really important to 
us. We never want her to be without the ability to communicate with us.

On a recent overnight trip out of Auckland I totally forgot to pack the charger for her CI battery. We realised on Saturday afternoon and talked Riley through the plan to take her CI off for the rest of the afternoon and night and the next morning, and that there might be enough battery left for her to have it for the car ride home on Sunday afternoon. She accepted this so that's what we did. My wife, Riley and I managed to communicate enough with her in NZSL during that time to decide what she wanted for 
dinner, go through her bedtime routine, and the activities the next morning with her feeling totally comfortable and not getting upset at all. This was a big deal for us!

Also, during the most recent NZSL I was asked by a teacher at Riley's mainstream kindy if I would feel comfortable coming in one day in the week for mat time to take the kids through some signs. I thought that was a great idea. So Riley sat up the front with me and we taught the class to fingerspell the alphabet and practice fingerspelling their names. It was great fun and Riley was very proud.

Thanks again to DCNZ for the funding support. It would be very difficult for both parents in our family to be able to attend classes without this financial support. Warm regards, Tania.”