‘I taught my driving instructor sign language to help me pass’

A deaf woman who learned how to drive while, at the same time, teaching her instructor sign language has spoken of her joy at passing her test.

Sarah-Jade Walker was running a British Sign Language (BSL) “bootcamp” in North Yorkshire which driving instructor Adele Oldroyd, from Selby, was attending when they both realised they could learn vital skills from each other.

Sarah-Jade, also from Selby, who uses a cochlear implant, said she and Adele “gelled”, with the driving instructor “learning more along the way” about BSL while she gained proficiency in driving.

Sarah-Jade said she was amazed to pass her driving test as she had not expected to do so, adding: “It felt like my head exploded.”

Adele, 39, said she had “always” wanted to learn BSL, so had welcomed the chance to take part in the course in January.

But when she met BSL teacher Sarah-Jade, 35, they decided they could both benefit from each other’s knowledge.

While Sarah-Jade was not new to driving, and had previously had lessons with a different instructor, she explained: “I wanted someone who could do BSL to teach me.”

Sarah-Jade said the pair immediately “worked together really well” during her driving lessons, meanwhile Adele said she “learned more along the way”.

Sarah-Jade said it was “helpful” that Adele “understands deaf people and doesn’t shout at them”.

“She’s got this patience, she’s kind, she understands that she needs to show me what I need to learn,” she explained.

“It’s a different method for her, but she’s willing to learn to help me learn how to drive.”

Meanwhile, Adele said Sarah-Jade “gave me patience, as well as vice versa”.

“We just sat and we spoke about the importance of her being clear with me,” she said.

“If something wasn’t working, what were we going to do about it?”

Adele said the lessons had involved “a lot of stopping and talking”, adding that she would face Sarah-Jade to help with lip-reading.

She also communicated with Sarah-Jade using BSL, adding that her signs were “not always the best, but we both try our best”.

While Sarah-Jade uses a cochlear implant, enabling her to hear some sounds, she said she learned to drive both with and without it.

“A few times, my battery died and I thought Adele would say, ‘let’s finish and go home’, but no, we carried on driving,” she said.

“She taught me in sign language how to drive. It gave me confidence.”

Adele said there were definitely challenges, including difficulty for Sarah reading her lips because of her Yorkshire dialect.

“The way we shorten words doesn’t always translate the same way,” Adele said.

“Driving’s tiring as it is. Outside of that, Sarah has to concentrate a little bit more on listening to me or focusing on my facial expressions, paying attention to my signs.”

Adele said Sarah-Jade’s driving test in October proved to be her “most favourite test ever in the world”.

“I tell everyone that’ll listen to me,” she added, praising Sarah-Jade’s examiner, Colin, as “phenomenal”.

Sarah-Jade said: “It helped a lot to have someone who understands what deaf people go through, instead of someone who’s not patient and might huff and puff about it.”

She added that when she was told she had passed, “it felt like my head exploded”.

Adele said that when they found out that Sarah-Jade had passed, she “did a couple of laps around the car park”.

“I was over the moon for Sarah because I knew what it meant to her with the kids and work,” she smiled.

“It opened up so many avenues for her that I think we both cried for a little bit,” she added.

Adele said that since her experience teaching Sarah-Jade, she had started instructing another deaf person.

However, she said that her other student could not communicate verbally in the same way as Sarah-Jade.

Meanwhile, regional variations in BSL added an additional challenge, as her new student was from further afield, attending the Royal School for the Deaf in Derby.

“The sign for ‘stop’ is different up north and down south,” she said.

Adele said she and Sarah-Jade had stayed in touch and remained friends.

Meanwhile, Sarah-Jade said that since passing her test with Adele’s help, it had been great to be able to get behind the wheel whenever she wanted.

“I can drive around, take my children to school. Life is so much easier,” she said.