A botanical stay in sign language in the heart of the Cévennes to promote culture for the deaf

Caroline Duterage est à l’initiative de ce séjour. Midi Libre – Anaïs Da Silva

Avec l’association Pont signe, fondée en 2021, Caroline Duterage promeut la langue des signes française (LSF) et la culture sourde lors d’un séjour botanique, Florasigne, du jeudi 20 au dimanche 23 juin 2024, au Mas de la Barque, à Vialas.

Making culture accessible to the deaf is the objective of the Florasigne method, at the initiative of Caroline Duterage and the Pont Signe association. Founded in 2021, it also promotes French sign language (LSF).

During a stay, from Thursday 20 to Sunday June 23, 2024, at Mas de la Barque, in Vialas, eleven people suffering from disabilities auditory, will be brought together around botany. "The goal is to be in the presence of the plants, to be able to discuss them and create new signs in order to name them because few plants have an identity in French sign language", explains Caroline Duterage. If words emerge, they will be filmed in order to make them accessible on the future website, launched in the fall.

From education to the environment

For quality work, Caroline Duterage makes her stay accessible to a small group of eleven deaf people. They mainly come from Gard and Bouches-du-Rhône. "Hiking, environmental education with the good of trees, accessibility in French sign language are the key words of this initiative", lists the Alesian naturalist, who has been studying the field of plants for nearly fifteen years.

To be able to carry out this stay successfully, the young Gardoise came to scout a few days earlier "to observe which plants have grown because that is not expected in advance"

Hiking in preserved places

"In addition to recharging their batteries in the middle of nature, it will be possible for them to learn more about the peat bog, the local fauna and flora", explains the" ;rsquo;initiator of the project. On the program: hikes, visits to gardens and in-depth workshops on certain plants and concepts.

The stay takes place on land preserved by the Cévennes National Park. "He was very interested in our Florasigne initiative, specifies Caroline Duterage. For the first afternoon, Émeric Sulmont, naturalist guide, will accompany us." Participants will be able to count on an LSF interpreter to follow the analysis. He is not the only one to support the project. The Occitanie Region encourages this work within its Technical and Industrial Scientific Culture (CSTI) system. "The stay is not seen from the angle of disability, but that of science", rejoices the naturalist trained as a linguist.

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