Deaf girl, 6, celebrated Halloween for the first time after neighbors learned sign language just for her

Good neighbors are always a blessing. But this British neighborhood set the standard high when they collectively decided to learn sign language for Halloween. 6-year-old Ada Hawkes, who has been profoundly deaf since 18 months, had never gone trick-or-treating because of her disability. Watching her friends dress up in spooky costumes to go knocking at their neighbors’ doors, Ada always wished to be a part of the merriment. In 2024, her mother, Tilly, had a brilliant idea but needed the community’s help to make it possible, as reported by The Sun. 

Tilly partnered with Cadbury Fingers and the National Deaf Children’s Society to encourage their neighbors in Worcester, England, to start learning BSL (British Sign Language). This effort would be a significant step to foster inclusivity for people with hearing and speech disabilities. Communication barriers had always been Tilly’s primary concern, owing to her daughter’s longing for participation in Halloween, typically celebrated at night. Moreover, the masks and spooky makeup make lip-reading more difficult than usual.

However, Ada was in for a big surprise for Halloween. The residents learned basic phrases like “Trick or Treat” and “You look spooky”, appropriate for the festival, and also let others know about their kind gestures by putting up placards in their windows. Later, sign-language experts dropped in to support and assist their progress before Halloween. "We haven't taken Ada trick or treating before as we've been wary that there could be barriers in communication with other households, and we haven't wanted her to feel left out,” said Tilly. 

She was hopeful that her daughter would finally be able to go out asking for candies during the holiday, as neighbors were now able to converse in BSL to an extent. “The fact that our street now knows a little BSL, we're really looking forward to taking her out trick or treating for the first time. Having her neighbours communicate with her in BSL is going to be so exciting," added Tilly, who also runs Learning.Adas.Language, to promote sign language. She shared a glimpse of the Halloween experience on the Instagram page (@learning.adas.language).

Anastasia Lutskovskaya from Cadbury Fingers noted the significant effort made by the neighborhood and said, “Just knowing even basic BSL can make a deaf person feel more included in moments of sharing and celebration.” Lutskovskaya claimed that the organisation had hosted Halloween-themed phrases on their official site to help people get introduced to BSL, allowing those with hearing or speech impairments to feel included. ITV News covered the mother-daughter duo's special journey on Facebook. A survey of 400 people from the deaf community revealed that one in four people have never enjoyed trick or treating. 43% of them felt they were missing out on the celebrations.

According to the Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, sign language is the third most common language in the US, after English and Spanish. More than half a million people use it as their native language, too. However, there is no universal sign language across the world, as it is highly influenced by location, cultures, and communication. There are about 300 different forms of sign language, spoken by more than 72 million people globally, as reported by National Geographic.