Emmerdale star Laura Norton says she is ‘hopeful’ as soap marks Deaf Awareness Week

Emmerdale actress Laura Norton, who plays Kerry Pollard, has two children diagnosed with Usher syndrome

Emmerdale is set to celebrate Deaf Awareness Week with a series of videos featuring cast members teaching and learning sign language.

Across the four videos, Laura Norton, known for her role as Kerry Pollard in the soap, will be instructing fellow cast member Mike Parr, who plays Ross Barton, in British Sign Language (BSL).

Norton, married to Heartbeat star Mark Jordon, is mum to two children living with Usher syndrome, a rare genetic condition impacting hearing, vision and balance.

According to disability charity Sense, the condition exists from birth, though symptoms may not emerge for years, with diagnosis typically occurring in older children or teenagers.

She commented: “I was thrilled when the idea for these videos came up.

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“Deaf Awareness Week is important to us, as both of our children have been diagnosed with hearing loss. And they both wear hearing aids.

“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.”

Both Norton and Jordon serve as patrons for Cure Usher Syndrome, a charity committed to supporting those affected by the condition, promoting awareness and financing research towards finding a cure. Parr revealed his enthusiasm for learning sign language after discovering Norton had been attending classes.

He explained: “I was only too happy to agree when I was asked to create a video learning how to sign.

“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 practise to retain the information.

“My beautiful little daughter attends baby sensory classes where they are learning Makaton, so my family – myself, Izzy and Susie – will definitely try and keep it up 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 – british-sign.co.uk – where you can easily start your BSL journey.”

Deaf Awareness Week runs from May 4 to 10, with the videos being released throughout the week.