There is a new mobile game whose main goal is to help school-going children learn sign language to help them communicate and link up with friends who have a hearing impairment.
Developed by Usiku Games, which is the parent company and creator of educational games platform, Tizi Games, the game, which is named Tizi Sign Language is both educative and entertaining that targets children from Grade 1 to 6 in primary schools.
It essentially teaches them the basics of sign language through fun and interactive gaming mechanics.
The launch is timely because the world is celebrating International Week of Deaf People 2021. It is also the International Day of Sign Language 2021 that started on 20th September. The fairs end on September 26.
It is so important that education in Kenya be inclusive of children of all abilities. To that end, we wanted to be sure that Tizi Games play a role in bringing hearing and deaf children closer together. We developed this game to equip school-going children basic understanding of sign language which is now a core part of the Kenya CBC – Jay Shapiro, CEO, and Founder, Usiku Games.
The game includes a set of minigames to teach Kenyan sign language (alphabet and numbers).
Usiku Games further clarifies that Tizi Sign Language includes snap, pairs, guess signs, and raining characters.
Numbers by WHO state that over 5% of the world’s population – 360 million people – have a disabling hearing loss (328 million adults and 32 million children).
Disabling hearing loss refers to hearing loss greater than 40 decibels (dB) in the better hearing ear in adults and a hearing loss greater than 30 dB in the better hearing ear in children.
The majority of people with disabling hearing loss live in low- and middle-income countries.
To that end, 360 million people worldwide have disabling hearing loss, and 32 million of these are children.
Besides, 60% of childhood hearing loss is due to preventable causes.
There is a Kenyan sign language library of both numbers and alphabet in the games as a reference for children to review and learn. The player will start with learning the sign language alphabet and progress towards learning the significant numbers. In each step, the player will unlock more minigames to keep them motivated and learning – Jay Shapiro.
