LIS, the Italian Sign Language, is a natural, historically developed language used by the deaf community in Italy, which has been recognised as an official national language since 2021. In Italy, more than 40,000 people use LIS. Many of them are native speakers of LIS, and for them, spoken and written Italian is merely a second language.
A deaf person who uses sign language and wishes to pursue a career in astronomy can study texts written in Italian, provided they have the necessary linguistic proficiency; however, this inevitably poses problems when it comes to specialist texts that employ complex constructions which are difficult to understand, particularly for a non-native speaker. In any case, books alone are not enough: explanations, examples, experiments and demonstrations are needed, and these require a channel of communication that is also accessible to deaf people. And in many cases, this can be sign language.
An inclusive education system for deaf people requires the design of inclusive and accessible teaching materials.
In this talk, I will share my experience of accessing astronomy as an amateur, and my reflections on how astrophysics can be effectively communicated through Italian Sign Language (LIS). And it is not always simply a matter of translating a concept into a sign.
In the case of scientific contents, and in particular astronomical ones, linguistic choices require careful selection of the signs and various elements of this language, and sometimes even the introduction of neologisms. This is because, as with spoken languages, the same sign can take on different meanings, linked either to everyday experience or to the physical nature of that concept.