Signing a bonus for tutors

Rory Young (seated, in black). Photo / Supplied

A young, profoundly deaf Auckland man has had a special welcome to a training centre - his fellow students have been learning sign language in preparation for his arrival.

Rory Young, 24, contracted meningitis as a baby and the illness left him deaf.

But even before this week's New Zealand Sign Language Week, Rory's classmates and staff at the Centre for Fine Woodworking had a headstart in awareness of his deafness.

Tutor Nic Bonnette said she and the other students were learning more than they bargained for on the nine-month, full-time course.

"It's a bonus, a new skill - and we're loving it," she said. "Rory is a lot of fun and he has taught us all sorts of ways to sign whole expressions, as well as words."

For two months, Sue Peters, from Deaf Aotearoa in Nelson, had taught sign language lessons at the centre.

Rory says it has boosted his confidence. "I did a year-long furniture-making course at Unitec in Auckland a few years ago, but I felt isolated and quite lonely," he said.