English: British Sign Language is an important language that isn't adequately recognised. At present, there is no adequate provision or no adequate rights in place to support deaf people at any stage of their journey through life, starting in the earliest years. Ninety per cent of deaf children are born into hearing families. Therefore, new parents often have no experience of deafness, and have to learn how to communicate with and support the specific needs of their child afresh. Astonishingly, there is no free lesson provision, and, therefore, it's often a challenge for families to ensure opportunities to help their children. And it's true to say that this is a form of language deprivation. No child should be deprived of their right to their language. It's inevitable that a child's earliest development would be affected by this communication vacuum, because a lack of communication capability leads to feelings of isolation that have a negative impact on the emotional and mental health of an individual, and possibly on their life chances more widely. Things don't improve when a deaf child goes to school. Deffo! says that, on average, deaf children who receive mainstream education in Wales leave school at 16 with a reading age of nine. Often, their speech and lip-reading skills are poor. Also, there has been a consistent gap in the attainment levels of deaf children compared to their hearing peers, which is at its widest in the foundation stage and at key stage 2. This gap exists because of the barriers that deaf learners face, more often than not. And this is also a concern for the children's commissioner, who has stated that the lack of commitment to closing the attainment gap between deaf learners and their hearing peers is an issue that needs attention from the Government and from local authorities, in order to ensure appropriate support for the communication needs of children and young people who are deaf, including BSL learning opportunities that are accessible and affordable, at a range of levels. And this lack of focus is also highlighted when looking at local authorities, with only one Welsh local authority committed to the British BSL charter from the British Deaf Association. So, it's time to achieve that focus on developing our own national charter for the provision of consistent services and resources for deaf children and their families. The Welsh Government needs to track the development of deaf children and their families throughout their education journey, and ensure that the appropriate provision is available, because the statistics speak for themselves. At present, there are far too many deaf children who use BSL as a first language being supported by school staff with too simple levels of signing. And we need to think seriously about encouraging teachers to gain a BSL qualification, at appropriate levels. And turning, therefore, to the new curriculum, there is an opportunity here to encourage far more use of BSL in schools. And, as we know, BSL isn't only for deaf children, and teaching BSL at school could give an additional opportunity for children, across the spectrum, to learn another language. Having considered all of this evidence, and the statistics, it's clear that work needs to be done by us, as politicians, to promote the importance of BSL resources and services, so that the appropriate support is available at all levels, from infancy to adult life. And the Welsh Government also has a responsibility to meet the requirements of the petition. Thank you.
Welsh: Mae Iaith Arwyddo Prydain yn iaith bwysig, sydd ddim yn cael ei chydnabod yn ddigonol. Ar hyn o bryd, does dim darpariaeth na hawliau digonol i gefnogi pobl fyddar ar unrhyw gam o'u taith drwy fywyd, gan ddechrau yn y blynyddoedd cyntaf. Mae 90 y cant o blant byddar yn cael eu geni i deuluoedd sy'n clywed. Felly, mae rhieni newydd yn aml heb brofiad o fyddardod, ac yn gorfod dysgu sut i gyfathrebu a chefnogi anghenion penodol eu plentyn o'r newydd. Mae'n syfrdanol nad oes darpariaeth o wersi am ddim ar gael, ac felly'n aml mae'n her i deuluoedd sicrhau cyfleoedd i helpu eu plant. Ac mae'n wir dweud bod hyn yn ffurf ar amddifadedd iaith. Ni ddylai unrhyw blentyn beidio â chael hawl i'w iaith. Mae'n anochel y bydd datblygiad cynharaf plentyn yn cael ei effeithio gan wacter cyfathrebu, efo diffyg gallu cyfathrebu yn arwain at deimladau o fod yn ynysig, sy'n effeithio'n negyddol ar iechyd emosiynol a meddyliol unigolyn, ac o bosib cyfleoedd bywyd ehangach. Dydy pethau ddim yn gwella pan â plentyn byddar i'r ysgol. Mae Deffo! yn dweud, ar gyfartaledd, fod plant byddar sy'n cael eu haddysg yn y brif ffrwd yng Nghymru yn gadael yr ysgol yn 16 oed ag oed darllen o naw mlwydd oed. Yn aml, mae llefaredd a sgiliau darllen gwefus yn wael. Hefyd, mae bwlch cyrhaeddiad cyson wedi bodoli yng nghyrhaeddiad plant byddar o'u cymharu â phlant sy'n siarad, sydd ar ei fwyaf eang yn ystod y cyfnod sylfaen a chyfnod allweddol 2. Ac mae'r bwlch yma'n bodoli oherwydd y rhwystrau y mae'r dysgwyr byddar yn eu hwynebu yn amlach na pheidio. Mae hyn yn destun pryder i'r comisiynydd plant, sydd wedi mynegi bod diffyg ymrwymiad i gau'r bwlch cyrhaeddiad rhwng dysgwyr byddar a'u cyfoedion sy'n clywed yn fater sydd angen sylw gan y Llywodraeth a chan awdurdodau lleol er mwyn sicrhau cefnogaeth briodol ar gyfer anghenion cyfathrebu plant a phobl ifanc sydd yn fyddar, gan gynnwys cyfleoedd dysgu BSL hygyrch a fforddiadwy, ar ystod o lefelau. Ac mae'r diffyg ffocws yma i gael ei weld hefyd o edrych ar awdurdodau lleol, efo dim ond un awdurdod lleol yng Nghymru wedi ymrwymo i siartr BSL Prydeinig gan y British Deaf Association. Felly, mae'n bryd hoelio'r ffocws ar ddatblygu siartr cenedlaethol ein hunain ar gyfer darparu gwasanaethau ac adnoddau cyson i blant byddar a'u teuluoedd. Mae angen i Lywodraeth Cymru ddilyn datblygiad plant byddar a'u teuluoedd drwy'r holl siwrnai addysg, a gwneud yn siŵr bod y ddarpariaeth briodol ar gael achos mae'r ystadegau yn siarad drostyn nhw eu hunain. Ar hyn o bryd, mae gormod o blant byddar sydd yn defnyddio BSL fel iaith gyntaf yn cael eu cefnogi yn yr ysgol gan staff sydd â lefel rhy syml o arwyddo. Ac mae angen meddwl o ddifrif ynglŷn ag ysgogi athrawon i ennill cymwysterau BSL ar y lefelau priodol. Ac i droi, felly, at y cwricwlwm newydd, mae yna gyfle fan hyn i annog llawer mwy o ddefnydd o BSL yn yr ysgolion. Ac fel dŷn ni'n ei wybod, dydy BSL ddim ar gyfer plant byddar yn unig, ac fe allai dysgu BSL yn yr ysgol roi cyfle ychwanegol i blant, ar draws, i ddysgu iaith arall. Wedi ystyried yr holl dystiolaeth, a'r ystadegau, mae'n glir bod gwaith angen ei wneud gennym ni fel gwleidyddion i godi statws pwysigrwydd adnoddau a gwasanaethau BSL, fel bod y gefnogaeth briodol ar gael ar bob lefel, o fabandod hyd at fywyd fel oedolion. Ac mae cyfrifoldeb gan Lywodraeth Cymru hefyd i ateb gofynion y ddeiseb. Diolch.