DCU ISL STEM Glossary Project

There are approximately 5,000 people in Ireland who use Irish Sign Language (ISL) as their first language (Central Statistics Office, 2017). For those Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) people to be scientifically informed, there must first be an agreed lexicon or vocabulary in Irish Sign Language for science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) terms. At present, this does not exist in Ireland. The absence of agreed signs for technical STEM vocabulary causes problems for the teaching of STEM subjects at all levels of education and presents difficulties for those working in Sign Language interpreting. It also limits the potential to provide access to mainstream public engagement science resources such as those associated with Science Week. 250,000 people engaged with Science Week in 2016 (SFI Annual Report 2016) – Deaf people must be included in those conversations.

The funding for our project is from Science Foundation Ireland.

More information available on the DCU ISL Stem Glossary Project website