Note: Flag next to a link shows what language the website is in. This is sometimes obvious by what country the link is for or the fact that the title is in English. If I feel it may be ambiguous, I have tried to clarify by using a flag. This is done so that people can read sites in the language of their choice.

Bamako Sign Language: A language of Mali.

Miles, M.

(2005). Deaf people living and communication in African histories, c. 960s - 1960s.There is strong documentary evidence that deaf or hearing impaired men and women, girls and boys, did occupy social space and took roles across the full spectrum of life throughout Africa in earlier centuries, living lives like everyone else and also having some different experiences. Traces and signs of deaf people appear in many sorts of historical document, such as travellers' accounts, legal and genealogical records, government, institutional and missionary archives, linguistic studies, literature, folklore, religious narrative, mime, dance and drama. Many of their experiences have involved severe economic poverty and adversity, stigmatising attitudes and exclusionary practices; yet this has not been the norm everywhere in Africa, and many deaf people have shown great resilience, perseverance, humour and ingenuity in their dealings and communications with the non-deaf world.

(2001, May 31). Overcoming Resource Barriers: the challenge of implementing inclusive education in rural areas. I have chosen to focus on resource barriers because they are the most widely used excuses for not promoting inclusive practice, even in the most apparently well-resourced educational settings. My teaching colleagues in the UK claim that they would be capable of so much more, 'if only there were more resources'. A lack of resources is perceived as a barrier to inclusion across cultural, geographical and economic boundaries. It is therefore important to understand what we mean by resources and begin to tackle the problem. Resources can be divided into human resources, material resources (money!), and access to information and knowledge.

Nyst, V., & Baker, A. (2003). The phonology of name signs: A comparison between the Sign Languages of Uganda, Mali, Adamorobe and the Netherlands (pp. 71-80). In A. Baker, Bogaerde, B. van den and O. Crasborn (Eds.), Cross-linguistic perspectives in sign language research. Selected papers from TISLR 2000. Hamburg: Signum.

Stubbs, S. (1997). Overcoming barriers to inclusion in Douentza, Mali. In January 1997 Save the Children Fund (SCF) UK set up a consultation process with government, donors, NGOs and village communities with the aim of making schooling more accessible to children. Access to schooling is part of a wider set of activities intended to strengthen the resilience of village children to the pressures of poverty. This article shows that inclusive education can be supported in one of the 'poorest' areas of the world and that huge environmental, climatic, economic and material challenges can be overcome.

World Federation of the Deaf membership information: Malaysian Federation of the Deaf (MFD). Contact info only. Click on "J-M" and scroll down to the country name.