DVD
Over 30 former pupils of the Academy volunteered their time to be interviewed as part of the project. We held workshops for the volunteers which involved display boards and archive materials (now stored at Devon Records Office) so that volunteers could sit and reminisce about their school years in preparation for their interviews.
Volunteers were interviewed on an individual basis and were asked to focus on the five themes:
Education
Employment
Relationships with Hearing People
Community
Language
A DVD was produced which has been in high demand not only with the Deaf community but also with hearing people who have been fascinated by the experiences of the volunteers. The project aims were to produce 50 copies of the DVD but due to requests a further 150 have been produced.
The exhibition is a collation of the volunteers’ experiences based on the five themes. It was launched at the Academy on 14th May 2011 and we had an excellent response. The exhibition has been displayed in the Civic Centre, Met Office, EDF Energy, local libraries, Bicton College, The Phoenix Arts Centre, Devon Records Office, Living Options Devon and Devon County Council.
We would like to thank all the volunteers that took part in the making of the DVD.