(RaiNews)
(Rights other voices / us and them)
[Man] Let's see the instructions. I was hoping... about sign language. I heard you can use it to order
[Off voice] True, at the Nameless Bar - that's the name of this bar in the center of Bologna, opened
by two deaf young persons - you can also order in sign language.
For those who are afraid to try, there are slips of paper with dishes and drinks.
Alternatively, a mirror and a helper.
[Woman] I'd like to open a Corona beer. How to you sign it in deaf language?
[Interpreter] Beer - crown [corona]
[Woman] OK, thanks. Beer - crown. Thanks.
[Reporter] Is it difficult to order? [Woman] No, no. See: "crown".
[Barmaid] If you tell me "a beer" in LIS [Italian Sign Language], you get a discount.
[Off voice] Sara Longhi, one of the two managers of the bar, recognizes that the discount is just a pretext,
mainly a way to publicize and promote sign language among hearers too.
[Patron] I'll try to have conversations using signs, using signs - I don't know.
[Other patron] I think hearing people like the spontaneous gestures,
the different communication manner,
another way of communicating, paying attention to what you're doing, even having a coffee with people.
I.e., you look at people's eyes, you really look at them.
[Luce Tommasi] "You really look at them". Deaf people and support initiatives, or rather, integration initiatives.
as we saw
in this opening feature edited by Nelson Bova, there is a bar in Bologna
which is becoming very popular, where people speak in sign language
and if someone wants to try, they'll get
a discount on what they buy.
Today, we'll talk about initiatives like this one with our guests in this studio,
who are Giuseppe Petrucci, President of the Ente Nazionale Sordi [National Institute of the Deaf]
Good morning, President, welcome.
Rosanna Zanchetti, whom you see in the small video, is helping us: she interprets LIS
which is the sign language.
And in the studio, there is also Rome's vice-commissioner [vice-questore], Roberto Maugeri.
Good morning. [Roberto Maugeri] Good morning.
And he'll tell us about a new service, "An SMS for life",
which enables deaf people to communicate with the police and with the emergency number 113 by SMS.
So, President Petrucci, what can be said about initiatives like that bar in Bologna?
Innovative ones, surely, as compared to habits that create barriers
between those who hear and those who don't, aren't they?
[Giuseppe Petrucci] Of course, this Bologna bar is a pilot experiment,
the first experiment that really shows
an integration between deaf and hearing people, where hearers
strive to use sign language towards integration,
and thanks to this effort, they can can get a discount.
As the broadcast shows, interaction happens very naturally
and I think that this experiment must be extended to other parts of Italy
and this is really important, because it is a message of integration and solidarity;
and it is very important for the recognition of sign language
and it gives us a feedback
for continuing to advocate the recognition of sign language.
Seeing how deaf people
communicate very naturally in a bar
can become a way to communicate, and hence demonstrate
that LIS is a true language.
[Tommasi] In other words: a way to learn to converse.
The initiative of the Rome Questura (police forces) is on the same line too.
Roberto Maugeri, how does this "SMS for life" work?
[Mugeri] Look, the "SMS for life" project
arises from the awareness of the need to ensure that deaf people too can access a fundamental service,
which is the 113 emergency phone number.
Thus, in collaboration with the National Institute of the Dead (ENS), and in particular
with its Rome province section, we developed this project, which consists in
a system that can receive SMS sent by deaf people
and hence, through the reception of the message,
enable an immediate response by police forces or by the institution
requested by the deaf person.
Because... [Tommasi] [inaudible] Thus everybody can send an SMS.
[Maugeri] No: we have a protection system that
only allows deaf people to access this service: they must sign up via a written request
for the service, and when they request it, the Operation room
of the Rome Questura will automatically send them an SMS telling them
that the service has been activated and giving them a restricted phone number - which must remain restricted -
to be used in order to contact us.
[Tommasi] I meant that it's a kind of technology that also enables
people who can't hear to interact normally,
[Maugeri] Yes, but the barrier is precisely that this restricted number must remain restricted.
[Tommasi] ... yes: obviously restricted: obviously, we who can hear normally cannot
also invade this. [Maugeri] We use ... already many fields
[Tommasi] We already expand in many fields. [Maugeri] Exactly.
President Petrucci, ENS also set up a taxi service for the deaf.
ENS also set up a taxi service for the deaf.
Let's look at this poster and comment it together, shall we?
(ENS Taxi for the Deaf - Available on Android Market - Available on App Store)
as you have seen, the logo refers to the taxi service
limited to deaf people. By accessing this Android or Apple Store
- hence on iTunes, one can easily
call this taxi service,
indicating also the address etc.