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History of ABSLTA

ABSLT – The Association of British Sign Language Tutors – was formed at the instigation of the BDA in April 1989 – prior to that there was no organisation or group to co-ordinate issues relating to the teaching of BSL and the tutors who taught it.
Liz Scott-Gibson was the BDA’s Education Officer at that time and she arranged an open meeting at Doncaster College, with the view to setting up an Association of BSL tutors who could share experiences and support each other.
It became apparent at that meeting that it would not be easy to set up such an Association so a “steering committee” was elected to draw up some basic rules and draft a constitution. Melinda Napier – who is the current chairperson of ABSLT – was on the original steering committee and has remained on the official committee ever since.
After several meetings of the steering committee another open meeting was called in 1990 at Birmingham Deaf Club at which an Executive Committee was formed and a draft constitution presented for approval.
Linda Richards, Melinda Napier and Richard Magill were the first Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer, respectively, with committee members representing England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
One year later the Association’s first “official” Annual General Meeting was held at Manchester Deaf Club but due to arguments over the validity of the Association’s constitution and also the fact that the Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer all had to retire due to other commitments, the meeting was abandoned.
An Extraordinary General Meeting was called at Birmingham Deaf Club about six months later and a new committee was formed with Charles Herd as Chairman, Melinda Napier as Secretary and Eleanor Herd as Treasurer. It is interesting to note that the greatly respected Dorothy Miles was elected to this committee.
Since then the Association has become well established – providing valuable support and training for BSL tutors in workshops all over the UK and liaising with other bodies connected with the teaching and assessing of Sign Language.
The Association’s activities are limited due to the fact that it is entirely a voluntary organisation and relies more or less solely on membership fees and donations for its income, this is a great pity as it is felt that ABSLT has a lot to offer BSL tutors.
There have been suggestions in the past that the Association become a charity and/or a limited company, which would help with finances, but partly due to the fact that practically all the committee are volunteers, with other jobs to do, that has not happened yet.
ABSLT currently has approximately 140 members and, regardless of the financial restrictions, the committee have provided valuable support in the past and will continue to serve members as best they can in the future.

ABSLT – The Association of British Sign Language Tutors – was formed at the instigation of the BDA in April 1989 – prior to that there was no organisation or group to co-ordinate issues relating to the teaching of BSL and the tutors who taught it.
Liz Scott-Gibson was the BDA’s Education Officer at that time and she arranged an open meeting at Doncaster College, with the view to setting up an Association of BSL tutors who could share experiences and support each other.
It became apparent at that meeting that it would not be easy to set up such an Association so a “steering committee” was elected to draw up some basic rules and draft a constitution. Melinda Napier – who is the current chairperson of ABSLT – was on the original steering committee and has remained on the official committee ever since.
After several meetings of the steering committee another open meeting was called in 1990 at Birmingham Deaf Club at which an Executive Committee was formed and a draft constitution presented for approval.
Linda Richards, Melinda Napier and Richard Magill were the first Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer, respectively, with committee members representing England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
One year later the Association’s first “official” Annual General Meeting was held at Manchester Deaf Club but due to arguments over the validity of the Association’s constitution and also the fact that the Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer all had to retire due to other commitments, the meeting was abandoned.
An Extraordinary General Meeting was called at Birmingham Deaf Club about six months later and a new committee was formed with Charles Herd as Chairman, Melinda Napier as Secretary and Eleanor Herd as Treasurer. It is interesting to note that the greatly respected Dorothy Miles was elected to this committee.
Since then the Association has become well established – providing valuable support and training for BSL tutors in workshops all over the UK and liaising with other bodies connected with the teaching and assessing of Sign Language.
The Association’s activities are limited due to the fact that it is entirely a voluntary organisation and relies more or less solely on membership fees and donations for its income, this is a great pity as it is felt that ABSLT has a lot to offer BSL tutors.
There have been suggestions in the past that the Association become a charity and/or a limited company, which would help with finances, but partly due to the fact that practically all the committee are volunteers, with other jobs to do, that has not happened yet.
ABSLT currently has approximately 140 members and, regardless of the financial restrictions, the committee have provided valuable support in the past and will continue to serve members as best they can in the future.

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