Summer 2024Lorenza Pye: Woman of Rochdale 2024

Mum of two Lorenza Pye, 37, was crowned this year’s Woman of Rochdale for her tireless work in making British Sign Language more accessible to hundreds of Deaf and non-verbal children in the Rochdale borough.

Having previously worked in banking, Lorenza – who holds a level six qualification in British Sign Language (BSL) – set up her own free app and now runs the Eliza Says Rhyme and Sign classes, where she teaches a “very basic” version of BSL to “break down barriers between SEN [Special Education Needs] and mainstream.”

Lorenza, of Milnrow, initially began learning British Sign Language after her youngest daughter, Eliza, seven, was born with CHARGE syndrome – a complex genetic
condition named after some of its symptoms – which affects her breathing, eating and hearing.

Eliza spent the first 10 weeks of her life in hospital, undergoing a tracheostomy when she was just seven weeks old to help her breathe She was non-verbal for the first few years of her life with Lorenza saying “she couldn’t make any sound and I didn’t hear her laugh or cry for maybe four years.”

“We didn’t know there were any complications until after she was born and it was a bit of a whirlwind,” Lorenza said. “We found out she was deaf at around two months old and we’d just come home from hospital. Eliza had fought really hard to be alive for those 10 weeks and we’d overcome a lot.

“I was devastated; I’m not ashamed to admit there were a few tears. I’d never met anyone Deaf before having Eliza; I’d never really had any experience of people with disabilities in general. She was the first person I met with complex needs who is Deaf.”

Whilst Eliza still has regular medical appointments and relies on a feeding tube, she now uses BSL to communicate and currently attends a mainstream school with one-to-one support.

Lorenza and her family were advised to learn sign language, with Eliza proving to be “a natural signer” after taking to it quickly, but it quickly became apparent that support was limited.

Lorenza began learning BSL from a Deaf native user of the language, which she said “has been really helpful for me to understand.”

BSL has its own grammar and is structured differently to English. It was first recognised as a language in 2003 and only became a legal official British language in 2022.

Lorenza said: “Learning sign language is expensive and it’s not accessible. We need to shout more about keeping BSL alive. It can be adapted to anyone, and you don’t have to use it forever.”

It was from this that the first iteration of Eliza Says was created during lockdown, a free app that teaches 100 BSL words, which made Lorenza realise “that’s what I wanted to do.”

The first Eliza Says sessions took place at Little Hens in Milnrow, and now Lorenza teaches more sing and sign sessions across the borough, having branched out to teach children with SEN, schools, nurseries and SEN schools. She also volunteers her time using sign language to help support Deaf adults with cancer and wellbeing groups.

She added: “Everyone’s learning at the same time. Lots of families are trying to learn because the child needs it but sometimes, we do meet families who don’t have those needs, but want to make it more inclusive for children who do, which is a fantastic reason to learn. “We’re all in it together, and that’s a huge part
of my job and why people have connected with Eliza Says. It’s not only the sign language, I’m living the same life, I’ve got the same experience. They love to meet Eliza and she’s an inspiration to other families to show children can achieve with disabilities.

“There is a lot of negativity, especially around disabilities, hearing loss and being deaf, so it’s really good to share the positive things. I’m really big on inclusion and celebrating how unique we all are, which I’m always trying to say to my children.

“That’s what makes us wonderful.”

You can find out more about Eliza Says via the ‘Elizasays’ Facebook page.

The Eliza Says app is free to download for iOS.