Emmerdale to mark Deaf Awareness Week with sign language videos

Norton, who is married to Heartbeat actor Mark Jordon, is mother to two children who have Usher syndrome, a rare genetic condition that affects hearing, vision and balance.

She said: “I was thrilled when the idea for these videos came up

“Every deaf person’s experience is different, but one thing that we wanted to do as they got older was learn sign language and teach them to use it as well.

“It’s a wonderful skill to have and it’s a beautiful language and Deaf Awareness Week promotes awareness and inclusivity for the deaf community.

“I’m also hopeful these videos, although a bit of fun, might encourage people to think about learning to sign too.”

Norton and Jordon are patrons of Cure Usher Syndrome, a charity dedicated to supporting people with the condition, raising awareness and funding research to help find a cure.

Parr said he was keen to learn to sign after hearing Norton had been taking lessons.

“I was already aware that her two children had Usher syndrome, and I know how important this is to her and her partner Mark.

“Laura is a great teacher, and I found our session quite easy to pick up, although I know I’ll have to practise to retain the information.

“My beautiful little daughter attends baby sensory classes where they are learning Makaton, so my family – myself, Izzy and Susie – will definitely try and keep it up as much as possible.

“I strongly believe we should learn sign language at school; it would be valuable and as useful as learning French, German, Spanish or Latin. I’ve loved this experience, and I hope that we could even start a little web series or do a few more instructional videos together.

“There is a website – british-sign.co.uk – where you can easily start your BSL journey.”

Deaf Awareness Week is from May 4 to 10 and the videos will be released throughout the week.

Emmerdale airs at 8pm on weeknights on ITV1 and STV and from 7am on ITVX, STV Player and YouTube.