Deaf couple use sign language to organise building a new house

Gregory and Victoria Lessing at their new Omokoroa home.

A new house build can be a challenging time for a young couple.

But Gregory and Victoria Lessing are also deaf, and undertook a house build from scratch using New Zealand Sign Language.

Their new home in Ōmokoroa is now completed, they’ve made the move from Auckland to the Western Bay and want to share their story in the hope other deaf people will undertake this very achievable dream.

The family were originally seeking an existing home but decided to undertake a new build which was facilitated through NZSL interpreters.

Gregory and Victoria Lessing are deaf and communicate using New Zealand Sign Language, one of the country’s official national languages. This meant all the planning and communication involved the integration of interpreters with their build partner Classic Builders and for all the subcontractors as well.

The Lessings realised their dream of having their own home and loved the Classic Builders design and the package.

Victoria says she is “passionate’' about sharing their experience of undertaking a new build as for many other deaf people it may seem like a very difficult undertaking.

Victoria has worked as sign language advocate for many years in various roles and works at Merge NZ, which helps develop NZSL training programmes and teaching resources.

“Sign language is our first language but there were interpreters booked for all the meetings we had with them, so we really enjoyed the customer service experience from the details of planning through to the final build.

“There have been a lot of tradespeople involved in the build but we feel that it’s a very well-oiled machine and everyone worked really well together and it’s been marvellous,’’ she says.

A few special features were added to the house to make life easier for the couple including the implementation of a wooden floor so that the vibration of steps could be felt as people approached and moving the office to the front of the house, so it was easy to see the street.

Lighting is also important to communicate in the dark outside in the garden/entertainment area. Flashing alarms were installed after the build was completed.

Last week was New Zealand Sign Language Week.