I thought you might like to have a read of this article, to which I provide some comments.
The lawyers trying to give deaf people a hearing | Law | guardian.co.uk.
I think it’s been very well written and does explain the situation Deaf people face when trying to access legal advice services.
I’m worried; very worried.
The Deaf community is at a precipice at this moment in time. Why? Those of us who have a Deaf identity are facing the biggest challenge we’ve ever come across: the desire to be considered “normal”.
I’ve noticed a worrying trend for some time; there seems to be far fewer individuals who are actually proud to be Deaf and dislike the terms “hearing impaired”, “hearing loss”, “hard of hearing” etc.
Mainstreaming
More and more deaf children are being educated in the mainstream which means individuals are being completely isolated from the Deaf community, and most importantly, BSL and exposure to the positivity associated with being Deaf as opposed to trying to conform with hearing peers and hearing families and pander to the narrow-mindedness of medical professionals.
Cochlear implants
There seems to be a growing tendency for friends of mine who I always thought were proud to be Deaf to opt for a cochlear implant.
Now, I don’t have anything against CIs per se, if the implantee makes the decision knowing the full facts and associated risks. It’s only when children who don’t have a say in the decision to have a CI are forced by parents who are being influenced by medical professionals and the medical model of deafness and their insecurities and desire for their kids to grow up normal I have an issue with.
I recently discovered that 90 percent of deaf children now have CIs. That’s a gobsmacking statistic.
However, in the last 3 months, two friends have had CIs, another is planning to have one, and yet another is thinking about it. The one thinking about it is a friend I’ve always considered to have a strong non-conformist Deaf identity.
Why is it happening? Why are my friends so eager to be able to “hear” all of a sudden? Aren’t they proud to be Deaf any more?
Action on Hearing Loss
The RNId’s £320,000 rebranding has sickened me. Hell bent on a mission to cure deaf people, while providing communication and social care services which contradict it’s new vision, the RNId, now known as Action on Hearing Loss, is portraying Deaf people as freaks of nature who are all desperate to be cured.
I abhor the whole concept of AOHL. It stinks. It’s a massive encroachment on my self-esteem and self-worth as a human being. And worst of all, AOHL is just a brand; the RNId is still the RNId – have a look at the footer on the new AOHL website or on the Charity Commission’s website if you don’t believe me – which means that they still profess to represent Deaf people!
And yet, there are Deaf camps who are welcoming this change of focus. *shudder*
Deaf4Life
Deaf4Life is currently consulting its members to consider a change of name. The options are “Deaf Forum” or “Hearing Loss Forum”. I’d be happy with “Deaf Forum” but “Hearing Loss Forum” makes me shudder.
The moderators say that hard of hearing people are put off joining the forum because it says “Deaf”. Well, I’m sorry, but I don’t think hard of hearing people need to belong to a community. They are hearing. End of. They may have deteriorating hearing for various reasons but they are predominantly hearing. With some assistance from hearing aids, they don’t face the barriers and discrimination Deaf people have to put up with on a day-to-day basis.
The fact that hard of hearing people may not necessarily meet the definition of disability under the Equality Act 2010 – a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out day-to-day activities – speaks volumes (no pun intended).
Why are Deaf people pandering to the majority? There are an estimated 125,000 Deaf sign language users in the UK according to the latest GP Survey. That’s compared to 4 million hard of hearing or deafened people (according to AOHL’s revised figures from 8.9 million!).
As a minority, Deaf people need their own space without an invasion of hard of hearing people. Why can’t they go and create their own forum if they’re so desperate to belong to a community?
What to do?
If there was ever a time for Deaf people to unite and present a united force, it is NOW.
We NEED the Federation of Deaf People to reform and fight for our rights. We need Deaf organisations like the British Deaf Association and the Royal Association for Deaf people to make a stand.
I’m worried; very worried.
Some of you will be aware that on 24 September 2010, RAD Deaf Law Centre’s (RAD DLC) Management Committee was formed which brought the first Deaf law centre in the UK into being. RAD DLC is also the first national law centre to be a full member of the Law Centres Federation.
Why?
Why was RAD DLC set up? It is a well known fact that many D/deaf people find it difficult to access mainstream legal advice services for various reasons, the main being that many private legal advice services don’t realise that the goods, facilities and services provisions of the Equality Act 2010 also apply to them, which means that they don’t readily provide BSL/English Interpreters or other communication support for D/deaf people, or at least try to pass on the costs to them.
In the public sector, in my experience, law centres and Citizens Advice bureaux are acutely aware of their obligations under the EqA, but due to funding, or lack thereof, are unable to provide the ‘reasonable’ adjustments required.
RAD Legal Services, of which I’ve been the Head for over one year, has gone some way to plug the gap in mainstream service provision with advisers who are fluent in BSL and able to communicate with its D/deaf clients using a wide range of technology as well as face to face. However, law centres are embedded in their communities and answer to committees of local people. They assist vulnerable people when they suffer injustice, educate people about their rights and tackle local problems. RAD DLC can do what RAD Legal Services doesn’t have the capacity to do: educate and campaign for the rights of D/deaf and D/deafblind people.
Who?
RAD DLC’s management committee has just three hearing members out of 12. The remainder are D/deaf or D/deafblind and range from Deaf professionals to service users. More details about who they all are will be revealed when the website is launched towards the end of this year.
Why is RAD involved?
There will be some critics who dislike the fact that the law centre is “RAD DLC” as opposed to just “DLC”, particularly those who don’t believe that Deaf organisations should get involved in things like this. I would like to make it clear that the management committee decided to use RAD in the title of the law centre for the following reasons:
I’d like to make it clear that the management committee has the power to decide to drop RAD from the title of the law centre at any time of its own choosing.
Next steps
At this moment in time, RAD DLC is currently undergoing a review of its strategy and direction. Once underway, there will be an official launch of the law centre and its services, so watch this space.
Leon Lim – an old Deaf friend of mine from Malaysia – is becoming widely known as a predominant Deaf artist.
Leon and I became penpals when we were both in school, me at Llantarnam Comprehensive School and Leon at the Federal School for the Deaf, Penang; introduced to each other through a “letter exchange” between the Deaf pupils at each school, back in circa 1992. We wrote to each other for donkey’s years, exchanging not just letters but also artwork (from Leon) and stamps and various mementos and goodies. One such goodie was a framed RM$2 banknote which I received for my 19th birthday, which I still use as a bookmark.
In 2003, Leon visited the UK for the first time as part of a whistlestop tour of Europe, and he came to Wales to meet me, my family and my friends, and stayed with me for the duration. We got along like a house on fire and communicated with each other in a mixture of BSL and ASL. It was surreal to meet a penpal face to face, and pretty cool at the same time.
Leon then moved to the USA to study art at the Rochester Institute of Technology, NY, and he now resides in New York City as a working artist, and has become a well known artist in his native Malaysia, and even has >his own Wikipedia page!
In recent years, as we’ve both matured into adults and forged our own careers, Leon in art and me in law, we’ve stopped sending each other letters. However, thanks to the advent of the Internet, we have remained in touch, albeit infrequently.
I found out yesterday, via Deaf News Today’s Twitter feed, that Leon has been recognised for his work on TIME magazine’s year-end cover picture of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange using the text of a leaked cable. You can read all about it here.
I think Leon’s story is an astonishing one, and I am proud to call him a friend. Leon, we’ll come and visit you in NYC in the near future, promise!!
Reading this blog post by Deafinitely Girly got me thinking about how people perceive me.
I have a multifaceted life: I’m a husband, father, son, brother, solicitor and a manager. I’m also Deaf.
Now, if I was to go out in public, and meet a stranger (I’m thinking hearing), what’s the first thing that would come to mind about me after having a conversation and finding out a few facts about me?
“Oh, he’s Deaf.”
or
“Oh, he’s a solicitor.”
or
“Oh, he’s married and has kids.”
I bet you, they’d find themselves more concerned with the fact that I’m Deaf.
That brings us to another point; the combination of the words “Deaf” and “solicitor”. I’m sure some of you won’t be surprised to learn that the moment people realise I’m both these, the normal reaction is: “Oh really!? Wow! That’s amazing!”.
This just proves Deafinitely Girl’s point: that the fact of being Deaf is always predominate in people’s minds, and they often find it difficult to think of me in any other way.
What does that say about our society? I’m sure the same is true for other individuals who are “different” in some way. Hell, even I’m doing it, because I’m reinforcing the idea that some people are “different”.
Right, this is getting a bit too deep for this time of night. G’night!