A five-year-old boy with cerebral palsy has unwittingly sparked an uptake of sign language in Tauranga.
Young Ezra Fitch is unable to speak.
He was born prematurely at 23 weeks. As a result, he is mute.
In an effort to help their son communicate, parents Daniel and Abby Fitch explored the idea of using sign language.
"Because he couldn't talk, we used sign to communicate," Mr Fitch said.
The family began with simple words - outside, TV, bottle, etc.
"We did it so he wouldn't be frustrated when he wanted to do something," Mr Fitch said.
Although Ezra was unable to speak, his hearing was good.
Mr Fitch said they doubted Ezra would ever be able to speak.
"That's why we pursued learning sign," he said.
"We knew he would be frustrated otherwise. We know of other children with conditions similar to his and they would get angry out of frustration at not being able to communicate."
Mr Fitch enlisted in five six-week sign language classes, managed by Deaf Aotearoa NZSL (New Zealand Sign Language). When Mr Fitch's brother-in-law Pastor Daniel Fraser heard what he was doing, Mr Fraser also signed up for the classes. From this, other members of the Grace Independent Baptist Church joined in on learning sign language. The take-up of people wanting to learn so they could communicate with Ezra had been so popular, Mr Fitch was now teaching four to five words a week to church members.
Sign language was also being taken up by Nestlings Pre-school, which Ezra attended.
Mr Fitch said although Ezra was slower at picking up sign language because he had mild cerebral palsy, the sign language had made a world of difference "which is awesome".
Ezra's frustration at not being able to communicate had reduced and he was confident in communicating with his family.
"We love it. His just being able to talk to us," Mr Fitch said. "He comes and and says 'mum and dad, I love you' in sign. It's really precious to us."
The family attended monthly Stir It Up events hosted by Deaf Aotearoa.
The events were gatherings where learners of NZSL and deaf people came together to catch up and communicate. "He is the most determined boy you will come across, which is really neat. It's good for us too. We don't have to push him," Mr Fitch said.
New Zealand Sign Language Week begins on April 30 and runs until May 6.
Sign Language is one of New Zealand's three official languages, along with English and Maori.