Page 2578 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 24 August 1993
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DEAFNESS AWARENESS WEEK
Ministerial Statement
MR BERRY (Minister for Health, Minister for Industrial Relations and Minister for Sport): Mr Deputy Speaker, I seek leave to make a ministerial statement in relation to Deafness Awareness Week.
Leave granted.
MR BERRY: Mr Deputy Speaker, the week 22 to 29 August is Deafness Awareness Week. Communication, which we all take for granted, is a basic need of all of us, and this special week is an opportunity to gain a greater appreciation not only of the difficulties encountered by the hearing impaired but also of the richness of the unique language and culture of the deaf community.
Communication, Mr Deputy Speaker, is essential for survival and is a major contribution to our overall sense of well-being. In our society we acquire and share information through the medium of language to such an extent that we place a very high value on being able to speak and hear. However, deafness, like hearing, is not necessarily visible to the observer. Not all persons with a degree of hearing loss will require hearing aids and many will choose not to wear them. Those who can hear tend to take the ability to hear for granted and, for this very reason, tend to think of deafness as being a less disabling condition than those which are more visible. Deafness affects people of all age groups. One can be born with a hearing impairment or acquire it as a result of illness or ageing, or through exposure to harmful environments in later life. Deafness can be temporary or permanent. It can range in severity from a mild deficit to complete hearing loss. Some forms of hearing impairment are treatable through medical or surgical means.
Mr Deputy Speaker, impaired hearing is common in older people and can lead to isolation and loneliness. Access to, and management of, hearing aids can be particularly difficult for the aged. People with any form of deafness require acceptance and a demonstrated understanding of concerns relating to deafness in the community. Community support is important and can go a long way towards reducing the isolation and dissatisfaction that the deaf experience. The Government recognises this and incorporates this approach into the range of services provided by the ACT Department of Health.
In April this year my colleague Mr Terry Connolly, the Minister for Housing and Community Services, approved $16,000 of recurrent funding to be given to the ACT Deafness Council as part of the disability services grants program. These funds will allow the council to employ a part-time community worker to coordinate the development of support services for people who are profoundly deaf.
Mr Deputy Speaker, services to children are vital to their development, and early detection and intervention are critical for a child with a hearing impairment. In the first three years of life, a child will acquire most of the language structure that forms the building blocks for communication, learning and vocation.
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