p2pnet.net news:- The presenter of a BBC kids’ TV show called CBeebies has been accused of being rude to kids in sign language.

Mr Tumble, Justin Fletcher, has been greeting kids with a sign, “which involves gently rubbing the hands together between the thumb and first finger, on the show Something Special according to angry parents,” says Metro UK.

“The CBeebies character says the gesture means ‘I’m happy to see you’,” says the story, but Jamie Miller, who works for the Royal National Institute for the Deaf, “watched the show with his five-year-old daughter Katie says he has got it wrong”.

The signs for ‘happy’ and ‘f******’ are, “quite similar but it was still and awful error to make,” he says, adding:

“Katie, who is learning sign language, asked what the gesture meant. I didn’t know what to tell her.”

The Beeb yesterday denied the blunder, saying they use Makaton signals, which vary from British Sign Language, says The Sun Online.

“RNID spokeswoman Kate Sidwell said: “We advised the BBC that using Makaton would cause confusion. ‘Makaton is used more for children with learning difficulties — it is essentially a different language’.”

Slashdot it!

Also See:
Metro UK - Hi kids ‘I’m f****** you’, March 30, 2007
The Sun Online - TV’s Mr Tumble in sex fumble, March 20, 2007

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