At this talk and poetry event, Richard D France talks about his experiences of mental health care and performs some of his poetry. The event is introduced by Herbert Klein, Deaf advisor at Springfield Hospital (National Deaf Services).

The talk is in a mix of British Sign Language and Sign Supported English, with subtitles and audio.

Richard D France first experienced his encounters with the psychiatric system at the age of twenty three and endured further stays through mainstream psychiatric hospitals. Despite his requests for his communication needs to be met, this was ignored which led to a further deterioration in his mental health. In 2015 Richard was referred to the Bluebell Ward, at the National Deaf Centre in London, a specialist psychiatric hospital for deaf people where all the medical staff communicate using sign language. He wrote about his experiences in the psychiatric field in a book called, ‘A Tale Of These Contemptible Suicides,’ in which he highlights that the key to his recovery was communication. His books will be available on Amazon in early 2018.

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Tags BSL Deaf deaf life Deaf mental health services Deaf nursing France mental health care Nov personal experiences Poets RCN Richard Society