Welcome 2 My Deaf World (ATOM Study Guide)

Welcome 2 My Deaf World is an hour-long documentary suitable for secondary and tertiary students about two energetic and charming teenage school friends, Bethany Rose and Scott Masterson, who share three things – adolescence, school, and deafness. It follows two teenagers on the edge of change as they journey through the last few months of their schooling at the Victorian College for the Deaf (VCD), Australia's first school for deaf kids, and now the only school that teaches in sign language from Prep to Year 12. With dreams of creative, sporting and academic success, Bethany and Scott's story offers a portrayal of what it means to be deaf in contemporary Australia. It is an exploration of a culture with its own language and history. Ignored, dismissed, secret – it has persisted and grown for centuries and shows us another way of communicating, of knowing each other, of being human. This documentary seeks to challenge the hearing world's misconception that deafness is a disability.

Curriculum Links:
The themes and activities in the study guide relating to Welcome 2 My Deaf World will have interest to secondary and tertiary teachers and students. The subject areas that can use the documentary are:

• English
• SOSE/HSIE
• LOTE
• Drama
• Dance
• Media
• Music
• Health/PE