Brisbane pioneer puts power in deaf community’s hands
A young Brisbane woman has set out to help the world’s deaf community with an online dictionary chronicling more than 300 sign languages.
Sophie Li, the daughter of Queensland Ballet artistic director Li Cunxin and Mary Li, the company’s ballet mistress, was born profoundly deaf.
She told Neil Breen while she was able to grow up hearing with the help of a cochlear implant, she was determined to join the wider deaf community and learn Auslan.
“I realised the only way we could learn at that time was through deaf communities, through meeting deaf people,” Sophie said.
“I just thought that was absolutely crazy. We had YouTube, we had Facebook, we had all these amazing resources we could access online but not for sign language.
“In the next ten years, I didn’t find anyone else doing it so I decided to do something like this.”
It led Sophie and a friend to establish SignHow, a world-first online dictionary.
“[People] can search for signs, they can upload their signs and also if their sign’s missing from the dictionary, they can also request to have phrases or words or questions to be added.
“They can learn it in real time!”
Press PLAY below to hear the inspiring interview in full