Time to sign

Annie Harris, 38, Winchester

Sitting in the classroom, I paid close attention to the teacher’s lips.

It was May 1991 and, aged 7, I’d recently joined St John’s Catholic School for the Deaf.

Until then, I’d been at a mainstream school, where I’d been taught British Sign Language (BSL).

But hadn’t been encouraged to speak.

My worried parents Hazel and John had found a specialist school, where I flourished.