The Return of Ammy

After a long two week study siesta, I am back.
The picture shows Klassekolade 1, my adopted home for those two weeks. I was reduced to incoherent sign babbling and saying “whaaa? what?” someone asked me a question. I had a bad hair day, every day. I had violent dreams about missing exam papers being hidden in the safe of a mythical Deaf organisation, and being guarded by breathy Oralist Tongues in lawyer wigs. Now I have newly manufactured concave lenses, so I can see clearly again.

But I DID squeeze in two days in Copenhagen with everyone else, and this included visiting Dovefilm, Danish Deaf TV and the Danish Deaf Association (DDL).

Come on! Be brave and find a computer with a broadband internet connection. *crawls on ground begging you* See the weekly reports at
http://www.frontblog.dk/Weekly%20Reports/weeklyreports.htm

One issue that exploded on the NZ media scene recently piqued my interest. It has a link to the DDL visit, so I will explain it briefly.

The parents of a deaf South African girl allegedly murdered by her father in Auckland, were told by the Immigration Service the child and her deaf sister were a potential "burden on the state," as in a burden on health services. What is this burden? Ah. *clears throat*

Apparently immigration authorities assumed she might need a cochlear implant if she was granted permanent residence + she would cost the government. Thus she is a burden. So no permanent residence for this family. The father was under stress because of this, and he drove her and her sister off a mountain. The girl died.

See further information about this issue at http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3453385a10,00.html

The Danish Deaf Association (DDL) has formed a working party to focus on the issue of Cochlear implantation only, call this a bio-technology working party if you will. But what the DDL have not done yet, is approach Cochlear Implant doctors to find out more about facts. So when we had an interview with an audiologist from the CI industry in Denmark, the DDL "congratulated" Frontrunners for scoring this interview. A very good interview t’was, with questions across the board.

It is important to KNOW what are the facts. Its no use mouthing off that Cochlear Implants are 'destroying' Deaf Culture when we dont know HOW they work etc. We need to have substance to our arguments. For example, one fact Frontrunners found out is that the implant itself only costs 60,000 Kroner, that is about $13,000NZD. It’s the process that is expensive. The operation, the follow up visits etc cost approx $500,000DKK ($115,000NZD) (including the implant) So, maybe the doctors pocket a lot of the money (disclaimer inserted here).

So why is it an old argument of the Deaf Community that Cochlear Implants are expensive when they really are not, compared to the cost of Sign Language Interpreters, Services, and the total funds needed for a Deaf person to participate in the Deaf Culture and Community. That is why the government thinks its "cheaper" to get a Cochlear Implant….

We are a minority group with rights. Some may argue that we are not comparative to traditional definitions of a minority group, but I am not going to go into this…!

The Govt don’t understand about Deaf Culture, so the Govt don’t see it as ‘destroying’ it. They think they are helping Deaf. No one is bothering to correct them. When we do correct them, we are seen as ‘weird’ and wanting to hold on to something that they don’t understand. We don’t have convincing arguments about our lingual rights. We say it is bloody expensive to get a Cochlear implant, and that the money could be spent on better things. But…there is a catch. To the Govt, getting a cochlear implant is cheaper than spending money on participation in the Deaf community. But at the same time, they are denying immigrants the right to become a citizen of New Zealand because they would be a burden on the state. Because they think this immigrant would get an cochlear implant, and that is oh so bloody expensive! I cant get my head around this stuff.

But one good thing about the DDL's working party is that:

The DDL are acknowledging that CI’s are a real issue,

They know its something the Association needs to focus on, rather than have a heavy focus on service provision. There has been a recent call in New Zealand for a separate advocacy sector to our Deaf Association. Rather, associations need to be representative of their ‘consumers.’ So issues like this can be focused on!

I don’t have a big problem with CI's, but what i do have a problem with is the way the media portrays them. The media makes them out to be something that makes a Deaf person totally hearing and totally normal. Where it’s really a very complicated progress, from implantation to learning how to use them etc. The implanted deaf person is still d/Deaf with needs.

One thing a possible ‘advocacy’ sector could focus on is arming ourselves with the CORRECT facts. Understand both sides of the story. Make sure the NZ Immigration Department does not discriminate against Deaf who want to live in NZ. Make sure that it is NOT assumed that all Deaf individuals who enter the country would want a Cochlear Implant…. see?

NZ Immigration spokeswoman Mary Anne Thompson has said; a guideline had been established under which somebody who was likely to cost the health system $25,000 or more over four years would probably be rejected for permanent entry to NZ as being a burden on the health system.

Frankly, my pet peeve is the fact that this guideline was established without Deaf organisations jumping in and going hey hey!

Jumping to this week -

The great debate: Sociology vs Philosophy?

In the last two days we had Patrik Nordell from Sweden and Mette Sommer from Danmark. We were exposed to philosophy (positivism vs postmodernism) by Patrik, and we had an insight into the Deaf Studies Unit at Bristol University in the UK (Mette) Two individuals at the opposite end of the spectrum….

Ok ok i admit it, there wasnt really a controversy about which approach to take, philosophy or sociology. I was just twisting things to make it more interesting. But one thing we gained from these presentations was that the translation from Deaf to Theoretical Deaf needs to be made. And that we need more Deaf researchers out there...

P.S As to my comment about missing ever-oh-so beautiful Piha Beach in my hometown, if you are going to Auckland, New Zealand this Xmas Holidays there is a Deaf Tour Company who can take you around. See http://www.deaftours.co.nz