Ministry to the Deaf

Ministry to the Deaf By Leela Ramdeen 17.11.2005

During my recent visit to London I was particularly pleased to meet Jason, a young man whom I had taught in the 1970s. He is an accountant and has his own firm of accountancy.

Jason reminded me of an incident that had occurred in the school’s playground all those years ago. While on playground duty I had heard a group of children shouting: “Deafie”. This derogatory term was being hurled at Jason’s mother who was deaf. He had charged at the group of students in her defense and a fight had ensued. A few of us adults had to restore order and Jason had ended up worse for wear.

He said he never forgot the pride he felt when I drew on his mother’s expertise during the one year project on disability that I had initiated in the school. I had found out that his mother was a talented artist and recruited her as a paid artist in residence for a year to develop students’ skills in this area of the curriculum.

The perception of the students towards her as a deaf person changed rapidly. As part of the project students were asked to find out if any of their family/relatives/friends had a disability. As the classrooms’ charts showed, most of the children were related to someone or had a friend who had some form of disability.

This recollection brings to mind my experience at one of the meetings held in Gonzales by Fr Jason Gordon, a member of CCSJ and parish priest in that area of T&T. A blind woman at the meeting recounted the challenges of having to negotiate uneven pavements etc. as a citizen living in that area. She made a plea for such issues to be addressed.

On hearing of her plight, a young man at the meeting shared his experience of being placed at the back of his class by his teachers at school and not being able to hear because he was partially deaf.

Since there was no testing available and none of his teachers seemed to have been bothered to find out why he was failing, he went through school missing out on much that was going on in the classroom. The culture of his school was such that he was ashamed to let anyone know that he had a disability.

At a stakeholders’ meeting in the area a few months ago, Minister John Rahael stated that the Ministry of Health is continuing its programme of testing students’ hearing in schools. Such screening is to be welcomed.

We need to enhance our services for the deaf and those who are partially hearing and to raise public awareness of signs to look for if we are to identify at an early stage those who may need attention. Many deaf citizens of T&T have a very limited opportunity for education and face discrimination in a variety of ways. Regular classroom settings do not meet their unique communication needs. The "full inclusion" doctrine will not work without adequate facilities. As is sometimes said, mainstreaming can isolate the deaf even further if it’s not handled appropriately.

We do not have sufficient individuals who are trained sign language instructors, professional interpreters or family therapists in this important area. The challenge for us is to promote equal opportunities for the deaf and partially hearing individuals, families, and communities.

The public and private sectors – and indeed all of us – need to ask: “How can we ensure quality communication access to e.g. government agencies for those who are deaf or partially hearing?” We must determine how many citizens fall within this group of disabled persons. Do we have relevant statistics – according to age, gender, the cause of deafness for each individual etc?

Too often we forget that many of our elderly citizens grow deaf with age and services need to be provided for them also. Most of us fail to realize that we can become deaf, or otherwise challenged, through illness e.g. rubella, glue ear, meningitis, tinnitus, sudden deafness; trauma/accident,; noise exposure; prescription drug interaction; illegal drug usage/interaction; heredity; or one of many other causes.

Those who are deaf or partially hearing can feel isolated and marginalized in communities and even in their own homes. They have rights and we have a responsibility to create a welcoming environment for all God’s people. Communication is a major issue to be addressed here.

There are various communication approaches e.g. sign language, auditory-oral, auditory- verbal, bilingual education, cued speech, simultaneous communication, and total communication (signing while talking). Pastoral care at a local/parish level is important.

Hearing loss has a major impact on communication e.g. in emergencies because it is impossible to depend on auditory information. Sirens, shouted warnings, calls from rescue workers trying to locate people in rubble, knocks on doors to give urgent information, quick phone calls to give a heads-up about a developing situation, radios, public address systems - all can be useless.

Captioning of television and Internet news and coverage for text messages is not the norm. Without effective systems, deaf and partially hearing individuals do not know that there is an emergency, cannot learn what steps must be taken to protect themselves and others, and may be denied access to critical resources in the aftermath of an emergency.

We should also celebrate the abilities of those who are deaf and partially hearing in T&T. That young man in Gonzales now has a key role to play within his community. History has shown that the deaf have and continue to make enormous contributions to humankind e.g. : Beethoven, who composed his 9th Symphony when he was deaf; Helen Keller, the famous blind and deaf woman who overcame her disabilities and brought hope, courage and help to many; Thomas Edison who invented the phonograph, light bulb, electrical generators, and rudimentary motion pictures; Laurent Clerc, one of the fathers of deaf education in the USA; Michelle Banks, the African American performer; Charles Nicolle and John Cornforth, two deaf persons who received the Nobel Prize; and countless others.

We must safeguard, maintain and advance the civic, educational, and social welfare of the deaf and partially deaf and empower them to live with dignity, independently and productively within society.

To enhance their quality of life, the relevant Government Ministries would do well to educate family members, service providers, employers and the general public of the unique communication needs, abilities and accomplishments of deaf and partially hearing children and adults.

Appropriate services should be developed/provided in consultation with those concerned. Opportunities should be provided for individuals from this group to advise and to be involved in policy-making decisions regarding community services.

This will ensure that their views are taken into consideration/integrated into existing and future service delivery programmes in the community.

Knowledge and understanding may change our attitudes and behaviour towards the disabled. Mutual respect is a key value that underpins nation-building. Join Fr Jason at Mass at 9.30 am at Rosary RC Church, POS, on 27 Nov. as we mark the start of Disability Awareness Week.