Dr Nick Palfreyman

View the BSL translation of this profile.

I have worked with deaf communities in the Global South for over 17 years, with ongoing collaborations in Indonesia and countries in the Caribbean. As a VSO volunteer, I Iived in Indonesia 2007-2009 and learned more about the barriers that deaf people face there. I then transitioned from volunteer to researcher, creating a corpus of Indonesian Sign Language users. So far, we have recorded 131 deaf people on six different islands.

At the International Institute for Sign Languages and Deaf Studies (iSLanDS), where I am now Director, we believe that empowering deaf people to conduct research on their own sign languages and communities can make a big difference to how they see themselves and how others see them. This is what motivates me to apply for research funding and manage projects.

Currently, iSLanDS has four projects that involve over 20 deaf people in India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Trinidad & Tobago. Together, we conduct research on sign languages that are not well documented, and find out more about the experiences and attitudes of deaf communities, which are often marginalised.

Deaf people in Global South face more barriers than in the UK, and so I always seek to transfer knowledge and skills (and power!) to them. My colleagues in Indonesia are now running most of the current research project themselves, and they do it so much better than I do.

Being deaf in the academic world comes with extra challenges, but I have benefited massively from supportive deaf and hearing colleagues both here and in other parts of the world. I invariably learn new things from my deaf friends every time I meet them, online or in person.

I am deaf from birth, and I live with vertigo. I use BSL and English (I started learning BSL from other deaf children in my primary school) and I know several other sign languages and written languages. Being deaf often gives me a special connection with other deaf people around the world, regardless of other differences, and this is one of many things that I treasure as a deaf person.