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'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.

This week is Deaf Awareness Week. Nelson Mail reporter interviewed two women from Nelson's deaf community this week: Fliss Maera and Susan Thomas. The Nelson Club has between 25 to 30 members.

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."

A course to train professional interpreters for the deaf, now being run in Auckland, is the first of its kind in New Zealand.

Managing editor Professor Graeme Kennedy said the project had developed the most advanced computer database in the world for analysing and recording sign language.

An obituary on Margaret Coutts who was "the mother of deaf sports", an active leader and strong positive role-model to younger members of the Deaf community. She was the first female president of the Christchurch Deaf Club, and was awarded a NZ Commemoration Medal for her contributions in 1990.

In the past 18 months, the NZAD has opened field offices in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington, and hopes soon to establish two more in Nelson and Dunedin.

Profoundly deaf people, particularly those deaf from birth of an early age, have needs which are not being met by the existing psychiatric services and institutions, says Pat Dugdale, Field Officer for the New Zealand Association of the Deaf.

Michael May will be three next month, already he has skills, and problems that most of us don't even know about. Fiona May, his mother talks about her experiences which lead her to help form the Wellington Association for Deaf Children.

Three years of lobbying for more support has finally borne fruit for the Taranaki deaf community. An office of the Deaf Association opened in New Plymouth this week, to provide needs assessment, information and some interpretation services for deaf people.

The 600 people in Wellington at last have their own sign interpreter. Rachel Locker was appointed as sign language interpreter for the deaf on Monday.

A trip to the United States in 1990 gave Whangārei man Kim Robinson extra motivation to seek better and equal access for the deaf community in New Zealand. Now, that commitment to ensuring deaf people are heard and their needs met has seen him made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for services to the deaf community in the New Year's Honours List.

One of the New Zealand Association for the Deaf’s priorities is to get interpreters for the profoundly deaf. This was the message in a speech from Mrs Pat Dugdale.

A shortage of sign language interpreters means as many as 7700 deaf people are struggling to access services in their communities.