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

Most of these taking part in the sports convention last weekend live in a silvent world constantly. Yet no observer could have mistaken the enjoyment the spectators at the badminton expressed in their conversation, using signs and movements of their arms, hands and lips.

Kirsten, John and Shannon are over the moon at the recognition of New Zealand Sign Language. "It was the best day for the deaf community; it felt awesome to be a part of the process and support it all the way."

Van Asch College, as it will now be known, is no longer a school exclusively for the deaf.

Weekly yoga exercises at the Deaf Welfare Centre in Balmoral, where the instructor knocks the floor so the class knows when the time has come to "breathe out".

Struggles in her own schooling as she grew up made profoundly deaf Auckland woman Sarah Cameron want to be a teacher. Her ambition came true yesterday when she became the first deaf person to graduate with a mainstream secondary teacher's diploma.