Swiss Review 1/2020

Swiss Review / January 2020 / No.1 13 Society MIREILLE GUGGENBÜHLER Brigitte Schökle is sitting in the meet- ing room of the 120-year-old Walker- haus, a striking brick building located in the centre of Bern. Tanja Joseph has taken up her place opposite her. She is facing the light so that Schökle has a perfect view of her face. Joseph is a sign language interpreter – and she is there to translate. Why? Because Schökle is deaf. The 50-year-old is the managing director of the Interest Group for the Deaf and Hearing-Im- paired (IGGH), which is active in the canton of Berne, inGerman-speaking Fribourg and in the Upper Valais re- gion. Schökle requires the assistance of an interpreter whenever she con- ducts ameetingwithhearingmen and women. She and all other deaf employees have a budget of 1,778 Swiss francs a month for interpreting services in the workplace. The Swiss Disability Insurance Act guarantees them this assistance. However, it still does not amount to much: “It’s enough for around ten hours of translation, but we need more than that,” says Schökle. Once forbidden, sign language is on its way to becoming a recognised national language There are more than one million hearing-impaired people living in Switzerland, many of whom cannot participate in society without a sign language interpreter. For this reason, the Federal Council is thinking of raising the legal status of sign language. Sign language is not just an aid, says Brigitte Schökle. “It’s an independent lan- guage”; a language with its own grammar and syntax. Photo: Danielle Liniger