VIRAL NEWS UPDATE!!! Emmerdale co-stars Laura Norton and Michael Parr unite for important new project

Deaf Awareness Week begins in the UK today (4 May) and Emmerdale is marking the occasion by releasing four special videos, with the help of Laura Norton (Kerry Pollard) and Michael Parr (Ross Barton). The videos will see Norton teaching her co-star British Sign Language (BSL) to promote “inclusivity for the deaf community”.

Norton shared the importance of Deaf Awareness Week for her family, after her two young children were diagnosed with a hearing impairment known as Usher Syndrome. The rare genetic condition affects both hearing and vision, and can also lead to severe vision loss later in life.

“I was thrilled when the idea for these videos came up. Deaf Awareness Week is important to us, as both of our children have been diagnosed with hearing loss. And they both wear hearing aids,” she said.

“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.”

The instructional videos will be released throughout the week, with the first video currently available to watch on YouTube. In ‘Lesson One’, Norton shares some introductory phrases and tips for signing effectively.

Speaking about the special project, Parr said he was “only too happy” to help spread awareness about hearing loss and praised his teacher for broadening his understanding.

“Laura is one of the nicest, kindest, most warm, and caring people I’ve ever met. 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 practice to retain the information.”

The star explained that his daughter attends “baby sensory classes” where they learn Makaton, and said that his whole family will continue learning to sign “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 (https://www.british-sign.co.uk/) where you can easily start your BSL journey,” he added.