Off to Work They Go

See how Janet and Tony cope with the challenge of communicating with their hearing colleagues as the young adults enter the world of work

Tony, a trainee at Holders Press, is seen working with colleagues while printing machines run in the background. Interviews with his managers are intercut with scenes showing Tony receiving instructions from a foreman. In Worthing, Janet is seen working in a typing pool and, later, chatting with colleagues in the staff canteen. Interviews with their parents and colleagues explore the language and communication issues that both Janet and Tony have to cope with every day.

Dr ‘Bill’ Watts, a key sponsor of this film, was an assistant director of the Reginald M Phillips Research Unit, a Deaf Studies research group, based, from 1969 to 1977, at the University of Sussex. Watts challenged the orthodox belief of his peers, which claimed that deaf children needed a purely oral approach to education. He recognised that evidence to support this view was lacking and, through his research, was able to promote a more varied approach, which included sign languages, improved hearing aids and continual changes to the school curriculum based on cultural and technological developments. For Watts, a lack of verbal language was never a reliable indicator of a deaf child’s learning abilities.