Teacher who devised signing system for blind up for award

Mary Lee, a principal teacher at Edinburgh's Royal Blind School, works with youngsters who have multiple disabilities as well as being visually impaired. (MDVI).

She and a former colleague, Lindi MacWilliam MBE, devised a new "language" for people with MDVI – and the Canaan Barrie signing system is now used in countries all over the world.

Mrs Lee, 58, has been nominated for a Scottish Government Scottish Education Award 2010 for lifetime achievement for her specific work on the signing system and helping many children with complex needs to communicate.

Royal Blind School vice principal Iain Prain said she had developed "a reputation on a worldwide scale" for her work during 27 years at the school.

Explaining how the Canaan Barrie signing system came about, Mrs Lee, who has two sons herself, said: "Our children have very unique needs as they are visually impaired, so we have to come from the point of view of children who cannot see."

The system was called Canaan Barrie as it was devised for pupils in Barrie nursery at Canaan Lodge in Morningside – now known as the Canaan Lane campus at the school.

"What started us on our path was that we had children who wanted to communicate, but didn't find it easy to learn signs that were devised for a sighted community, so we started adapting on-body signs they could use and they have really moved forward," said Mrs Lee.

"Before this, there really wasn't any sort of structured curriculum – and we learned from the children, from the bottom up."

Mrs Lee's skills have taken her around Europe and as far as east Africa, where she went on a two-week placement to Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda every year for eight years, working with teachers of deaf and blind children and adults, passing on and sharing knowledge and experiences with families and teachers.

Mrs Lee, who lives in the Newington area of Edinburgh, also runs the Royal Blind School's weekly early years playgroup, where parents and carers get the chance to work with her in small groups.

She has been nominated for the Scottish Education Award alongside two teachers from the mainstream sector – Alan Byrne of Stonelaw High School in Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, and Sue Easton of Newton Primary School, Ayr.

The winner will be announced at an event in Glasgow next month.

She said: "I do feel slightly nervous about the nomination, but I am very appreciative of my colleagues who have all been saying such nice things about me. I feel very lucky to have had a job working with so many wonderful people who have become friends."

MOVEMENT AND TOUCH

THE Canaan Barrie system is a way of communicating through movement and touch for children with visual impairment and additional support needs (MDVI).

It works mainly through touch – most signs have a specific reference point on the body. The signs involve touching – on the body or using hands – or movements close to the child. The aim is to work out a vocabulary of movement, gesture and touch that reflects the everyday routines, needs and interests of the child.

The adult encourages the understanding of language by communicating in a slower, simpler and clearer way.

The system is based on building up a relationship of trust and understanding between the adult and child – as research has shown the mismatch between the communication systems of the two partners is the biggest barrier to learning, not the child's blindness.