IDPD 2021 "Leadership and participation of persons with disabilities toward an inclusive, accessible and sustainable post-COVID-19 world"

GARCIA B.

Jornada; IDPD 2021; 2021

Sign language is practised in almost every country. However, independent development of signs across diverse heritages and different cultures meant thatspecific signs to designate common objects or identical situations differ.Moreover, many astronomical terms have no equivalent hand sign in any sign language. This makes the deaf community particularly disadvantaged in communication.In December 2017, the International Astronomical Union(IAU) published the first international comparative list of astronomical terms in sign language with 47 of the most commonly used astronomical terms. In April 2021, a second list was published with 86 new terms, including neutron stars,gravitational waves and the expansion of the Universe. The main goal of the project is to make astronomy more widely accessible, as a step towards removing structural barriers that persons with disabilities face. The project alsoaims to stimulate reflection on the differences between various languages, to help communities develop their own signs for particular astronomical terms thatthey don’t already have signs for, and to promote discussion in deaf communities about the wonders of astronomy.