Page 3491 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 15 November 2006
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Just as we have languages like English, Japanese or Spanish, we in Australia also have Auslan. Sign language can be as rich a method of communication and as rich a mode of language as any verbal language.
Little d deaf people who are audiologically deaf or hearing impaired but do not belong to the deaf community do not use sign language every day of their lives. They do not identify as culturally deaf people. Where people choose to sit may often depend upon whether a person loses their hearing later in life or if it was never present. It may also depend upon the prevalence of deafness within the family. Individuals can also move between, or coexist with, the two cultures.
The motion as presented by Mr Gentleman today fits with the thinking of the little d deaf. By amending the motion I do not seek to take sides with big D or little d deaf beliefs, and though these issues are hard fought within the deaf community.
I do, however, seek to acknowledge the various practices surrounding people who are deaf or hard of hearing and to acknowledge their right to choose their lifestyle. Such a proposal would surely be more fitting with our human rights principles. Indeed, I suppose you could always call it another aspect of the right to choose.
Regarding newborn hearing screening, I am pleased to note that the ACT is well advanced and already screens 100 per cent of infants. Improved technology in the ACT will improve our levels of detection. Not all other states and territories are at 100 per cent screening yet.
Being able to identify a baby as deaf or hard of hearing at an early stage allows for the many options to be explored. If the parents choose it and it is appropriate for the individual baby, early intervention can be put in place. Whatever the form of that intervention, it will allow for improved learning and communication with, and by, the child at an age that is on a par with a child without a hearing loss, therefore giving the child in question an equal start in life.
In a perfect world, every parent would be able to make an informed decision about the path they choose for their child, but unfortunately this is not always the case. Deafness Forum Australia—the peak body for Australia—is aware of a degree of bias presented by audiologists and other experts in the field to which parents are referred once a child is diagnosed. For a practitioner who has never experienced deafness, there may be a greater preference for medical intervention and limited appreciation for deaf culture. I quote Harlen Lane, an American linguist and specialist in sign languages:
Hearing people have been perpetrating for a very long time some really terrible practices that have cost deaf people very dearly in dignity, in effective education, in civil rights … hearing people take the posture of benefactors of deaf people. Hearing professionals know best. Deaf people who have been deaf all their lives and live deafness every day do not have an opinion that weighs in heavily.
There are a variety of options available for children diagnosed with deafness or as being hard of hearing. The families of the children should be informed of all of these.
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