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An
Australian CODA's Perspective
In
debates on controversial matters affecting deaf people, there
is a broad spectrum of views expressed, and stories of good,
bad and indifferent experiences are recounted.
A
major factor governing such discussions tends to be overlooked.
That is, different individuals respond according to their
diverse personalities and temperaments.
I
am the eldest son of profoundly deaf parents and brother of
three profoundly deaf and two hearing siblings. Although born
with normal hearing, my first language was sign language.
But there was no resulting inhibition to acquiring English
in which, both spoken and written, I happened to excel at
school. This was despite little contact with hearing people,
and my next (hearing) brother was born five years after me.
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During
those early years within the family, I realised that my deaf
parents and brothers were different, but never thought of
them as abnormal or disabled, and they certainly did not think
so. In fact, there was no limitation in our signed communication
(private or public) and, hence, I never considered deafness
to be a problem. We were a normal family enjoying life as
well as the best of the rest.
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Having
practised medicine for many years, specialising in psychiatry,
I have maintained a close social involvement with associations
for Deaf and hard-of-hearing adults and children and with
members of such communities, always endeavouring to avoid
patronising or intrusive roles. My family instilled in me
respect for differences and a sense of cautious detachment
where others chose alternative life-philosophies to mine.
At
the same time, I have followed closely the various discussions
concerning education methods, communication systems, and assistive
devices enhancing residual hearing or attempting to compensate
for none. In all these fields and others which deeply affect
and, often, bitterly divide professionals, parents and those
with hearing impairment, it is a source of wonderment that
"individual variation" is so often overlooked.
I
believe a whole range of options ought to be offered, so that
individuals and families may make their own informed choices
of what may help best. Let there be no arguments over which
method or system is best for all. We may be sure that different
individuals benefit from one or the other, and examples of
excellence may be promoted for each. Try to gauge what may
suit each individual from as early detection of deafness as
possible, and constantly reassess thereafter. Don't be discouraged
by the need to change options from time to time. We are not
all the same, and we don't remain the same throughout the
early formative years of life.
My
parents attended the South Australian School for Deaf Children
at the beginning of this century. The Principal was Samuel
Johnson whose education method was a "combined system"
(articulate speech, natural signs and manual alphabet), although
he strongly favoured oral teaching and resigned himself to
the realities of deaf children preferring sign. My parents
were proficient in sign language and in spoken and written
English. I have always believed that children may not be disadvantaged
in a bilingual situation, and my parents and their deaf peers
are proof of that.
My
father was not disadvantaged during the severe depression
years of the nineteen-thirties. Unlike so many hearing contemporaries,
he was never out of work. If there was no job to be had, he
created one, including selling fruit and vegetables door-to-door
with a hand trolley! He was always a hard worker and thrifty,
and my mother was an excellent home-maker (in an era when
such an occupation was universally respected). As a result,
they always met their sons' needs, if not always their wants!
As
a CODA, I have never felt regret at having been born into
and raised within a deaf family - any good traits I have are
due to my parents, and the many bad ones are definitely my
own! I have never wallowed in "what-might-have-been"
self-pity. Be glad to be alive, and think of the majority
of the
six billion individuals on this planet who are not so favoured
as oneself!
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