SignDNA is the home of Aotearoa New Zealand’s visual Deaf history.

New Zealand Sign Language must be given official recognition as a language or it will die, Deaf Association President Jennifer Brain says.

Whakatane teacher Ruth Gerzon looks at some of the problems facing the deaf, in particular the controversy on how they should be taught.

Wellington has a new worker among the deaf. Pat Dugdale, profoundly deaf, has been made field officer by the New Zealand Association of the Deaf. Her job is to provide personal social service help and to liaise with organisations, welfare agencies, commercial institutions and lawyers on behalf of the deaf.

Northland's deaf community are rallying to get sign language interpreters at major events, anniversaries and festivals such as Waitangi Day and Anzac Day commemorations. Deaf Action NZ and Tū Tāngata Turi want the Government to fully fund New Zealand sign language interpreters for formal coverage of events, along with social interpreting throughout the day.

The new Wellington field office is playing its part in other developments of interest to deaf people, such as the spread of total communication and the growing importance of the Wellington Deaf Society.

If a New Zealand-born person doesn’t speak good English, people are likely to assume such a person is unintelligent. Such an assumption is wrong when the person is born deaf.

Rebecca was recently chosen, aong with seven other deaf New Zealanders, to attend a two-week training course in London to learn the basic concepts of teaching sign language.

'Wellington' and 'All Black' are just two of hundreds of familiar Kiwi terms – such as Milo, Weetbix, pakeha, Maori and marae – described in A Dictionary of New Zealand Sign Language to ve released next week.

How deaf is deaf? To be eligible as a "deaf" competitor a person must have a 56 percent hearing loss in their best ear. Every country in the games has to check all its competitors before they attend but a back up is brought in to prevent cheating.