An exciting week: starting from today – “With Sign Language, I am Equal” and this is a strong message to everyone to share with their colleagues, family and friends..
Ten years there was an official language – New Zealand Sign Language in New Zealand and today we have got three official languages which are Maori, English and New Zealand Sign Language.
“International Week of the Deaf is an initiative of the WFD and was first launched in 1958 in Rome, Italy. It is celebrated annually by the global Deaf Community on the last week of September to commemorate the same month the first World Congress of the WFD was held. IWD is celebrated through various activities by the respective Deaf Communities worldwide. These activities call for participation and involvements of various stakeholders including families, peers, governmental bodies, professional sign language interpreters, and DPOs.”
Let see the campaign messages are:
Birth Right – Draws upon the principle of basic human rights in relation to language acquisition at birth. When acquired fast, it enables deaf children to have full communication with people, improving their cognitive and social skills. Deaf children need access to sign language from birth.
Deaf identity – Identifies deaf people as belonging to a cultural and linguistic community, who use sign language as a mother tongue or natural language to communicate.
Many D/deaf people born D/deaf from birth or in the later life and their parents were referred to the medical clinic for the diagnosed on the hearing loss. The parents will decide on what kind of communicate for their D/deaf child and it can be sign language, oral or both of the communication. It can be difficult for a D/deaf child to be placed in a mainstream school where there are no other D/deaf children there. The school must provide a teacher aide with a skill which called NZSL (New Zealand Sign Language), full or partially understand in the Deaf culture and the community. As well, the staff of the school must provide any equipment such as Ipad with special tools such as captioning, recording the teacher’s message for homework and flashing fire alarm for the D/deaf child during the school terms. Every child in the mainstream school must learn to communicate in sign language with a D/deaf child and it will strength bond of friendship and trust.
It can be difficult for a D/deaf child to be placed in a mainstream school where there are no other D/deaf children there. The school must provide a teacher aide with a skill which called NZSL (New Zealand Sign Language), full or partially understand in the Deaf culture and the community. As well, the staff of the school must provide any equipment such as Ipad with special tools such as captioning, recording the teacher’s message for homework and flashing fire alarm for the D/deaf child during the school terms. Every child in the mainstream school must learn to communicate in sign language with a D/deaf child and it will strength bond of friendship and trust. If the parent chose to have their D/deaf child to speak, therefore a speech therapist need to be there and to teach the D/deaf child.
It would be good for the parent placed their D/deaf child in the Deaf Education School because of many D/deaf children are there and have the same communicating methods such as NZSL/English Signed. In this school where D/deaf children will communicating easily and there are plenty of special equipment available for their needs. The teachers have got their skills in NZSL/English Signed and of course, the teachers can be either Deaf or hearing. The parents of the D/deaf child would need to learn to sign early so they can communicate with their children including a D/deaf child in the household, school and in the Deaf community.
It is really come down to a D/deaf child to develop their mother’s tongue as a first language which can be either NZSL/English Signed or English language.It is the D/deaf child’s right to make the decision on what their Deaf identity is.
For an example – I was born deaf from rubella via my sister and mum. My parents were unaware of my deafness since birth until my late grandmother noticed the problem I have. Of course, I suffered a slow delayed in speech and balance problem right up to 18 months old. I wore an old-fashioned hearing aid even I hated the sounds and I tried to throw the hearing aid down in the toilet. A picture of my old-fashioned hearing aid will be following in the next day. I learnt to speak through my speech therapist until I was at Hamilton West School. There was a speech therapy clinic from 1950s to 1980s and every Deaf children went to have a speech therapy. We did not use sign language until later but we did use sign language which called body gesture signs in the playground times. We developed our own gesture signs which formed into New Zealand sign language and share with other Deaf children throughout many schools around the regional of New Zealand during the social visitings. This sign language is our own linguistic in New Zealand and we borrow other sign languages from USA, Australia and Europe such as England and France (Old French-USA sign language). I do not identify myself as a Deaf when I was young until I was in Melville High and this is when I realised that I am deaf. Yes, I do notice that I wear hearing aid and speak three languages – English and TC (Total Communicate Signs)/NZSL for many years even I can not hear myself at night.
More to follow…….
Life in Eureka 