I attended the Australian Sign Language Interpreters Association awards of the Victorian branch on Saturday. As always it was a lavish affair and a great time was had by all. I am not much for the awards part, though I have enormous respect for all the winners, but I love the floor show and catching up with everyone. On Saturday there was an 8 inch comedienne telling disability jokes.
OK! Stella Young is slightly taller than 8 inches but she is very short and gets about in a wheelchair. She also pokes fun at societies attitude towards disability. Some of us thought it was hilarious others cringed and let their jaws drop. In particular Ms Young poked fun at labels – you know special needs, differently-abled, handicapped – all these labels.
All largely made up by non disabled. These labels are designed to take the stigma out of disability. Paradoxically they do the exact opposite.
Ms Young has apparently never been asked for a ticket on a bus or a train. She gets on trains and ticket inspectors just walk past her. Being 8 inches tall and in a wheelchair it is very hard not to notice her.
She claimed it was her lifelong ambition to get a fine. She wanted to be fined just like everyone else who gets caught for not buying a ticket. One day the inspector passed her by so she called out, hoping to draw attention to the fact, that she didn’t have a ticket. The inspector came back and gave her one.
It is Ms Young’s ability to poke fun at society attitudes and her self that makes her so very funny. Incredibly UN-PC, but extremely funny.
For me the fascination with coming up with PC labels for disability groups is a pet gripe. If people spent half as much time focusing on changing perceptions, promoting the skill-set that people with a disability have or explaining just how much the disability economy contributes financially to Australia as they did trying to come up with a non-offensive labels then people with disabilities might make progress.
Instead they debate, ad-infinitum, whether to put the person before the disability, or to take the dis out of disability, whether to say differently-abled or my all time un-favourite – people with differing abilities. These attempts at political correctness make me cringe.
I am reminded of a wonderful old man that had lost his hearing. A group of us were discussing whether to use the terms deaf, hearing impaired or hard of hearing. Of course we all know Deaf with a capital D refers to members of the Deaf community, which is fine as it refers to their identity.
But what of the others who largely see their hearing loss as a pain in the proverbial. My view is pick one and be done with it. But of course people have different views. By and large, later deafened adults (another label) in Australia prefer the term hearing impaired.
The Deaf community in Australia are trying to impose the term hard of hearing on them because this is what is recognised by the World federation of the Deaf. The old man who I referred to a paragraph two above was having none of it – “Look!”, he said, “I don’t know about you but my hearing loss in no way arouses me.”
There was a stunned silence as people in the room tried to make sense of what he had just said. The penny dropped and, as one, the room cracked up laughing . What this highlights is that one persons PC is often another’s UN-PC. It is an un-winnable debate that takes up far too much of our time and energy.
To PC or not to PC ? It is not a question that can be answered. One persons PC is another’s not PC. I just wish people would worry more about the things that really matter.
The Rebuttal 
You’ve hit the nail on the head Gary – Dimity has put forward her argument that her way is the only way and does it in such a way that others are reluctant to tackle her on it. Dimity’s argument is totally UN-PC, since she did not put forward her views in a PC- correct manner that showed respect and tolerance for others. Therefore, by the mere act of being so UN-PC, she gives us permission to argue back in an UN-PC way too!!
I have to smile in a way, because she and others like the Shepherd Centre feel the need to very strongly advocate the Hear Say method. To the point of being discriminative. To the point of being “in your face” about it. Why? Because they KNOW there is plenty of evidence to show that the Hear Say way is not the be all and end all in the communication debate.
The point that Dimity and co seem to miss is that in their efforts to promote speech and use of residual hearing, they miss the real point – that it should be about communication. The communication method needs to be clarified VERY quickly, so that ease of communication is eastablished very quickly – so that the child learns fast and can then move on to learning more complex topics and subjects in greater depth and detail with minimal disruption to the dialogue. Can Hear Say, in their efforts to ensure their students can communicate, prove that their students actually progress in learning development, as fast as a hearing person or is the knowledge and skills of their students disjointed, incomplete and full of logic errors?
At the end of the day, the communication method used needs to be the one that meets the needs of the student in ease and speed of communication. Everything else follows on from that. I know as a hearing impaired person how difficult it can be to have a conversation of clarity, in which ideas and arguments are clearly explained. I know that I get extremely tired from having to work so hard at the communication, and I have good speech and use of the hearing aid. How much more of a struggle is it for the student who has to try and work out what each spoken word is and then build the content and context of the conversation on top of that???
My view is that ALL deaf and hearing impaired children should be taught both speech and sign together. When the child is old enough, natural development will see a natural decision in which mode of communcation suits the child best. In the meantime, until the child makes that decision, they can use both sign and speech at home, and the ease of that communication will minimise the gap in learning development – because the focus does not have to be on simply finding a way to convey the message.
I’ll shut up now!!!!
Speak on and speak out say I Pete!!!
Great article Gary!
We keep being told not to speak on behalf of others (i.e. to let deaf people fight their own battles) – but when their own organisations are elected to represent the community don’t stand up (so that they can protect their financial interests) who suffers? The people they are meant to be serving – the deaf community.
That in itself is wrong – and un-PC! And irritating.
PC, un-PC who cares?! What’s wrong is wrong. And people in the wrong should know about it – doesn’t matter where it comes from. End of story.
G’Day “The Voice-Man”,
So glad The Rebuttal marches on…I once was incredibly isolated and alone in the hearing-dominated employment and work environments…thanks to The Rebuttal, personally for me it is still a beacon of flame held high on a baton amids the vast cold, dark sea of crowds. A forum like this helps rejuvenate my sense of purposes in life, renew my aspirations and to retake charge of my own well-being. Ultimately, it is my identity which has been rescued and now I’m more confident to go forward, seeking access to real-time caption in my workplace for more equitable participation, promoting more inclusive and fairer working culture that should enable me to compete equally with others for career opportunities and job promotions, improve chances to attend professional development and training opportunities, which I believe will enable to break my 18 years drought on career advancements due to injustice and discriminations because of my profound deafness. This has nothing to do with my ability nor skills to undertake and perform the duty required.
Secondly…I would love to see the quivalent Auslan versions of The Rebuttal made readily accessible to the grass-root Deafies (those who do not have a strong command of the english language nor understands english) to open up discussions and debates right inside the realm of the Deaf Communities throughout Australia which I never has seen happened before nor since. Deaf is one of the few categories in society excluded from any meaningful and clearly understood consultation processes conducted by any governments or agencies, neither in the past nor done so today.
That is why there is this never-ending lack of proper recognition and full appreciation for the identity of the Australian Deaf Community and for the much needed official recognition of its Auslan sign language.
I do believe it is possible to rectify these only if and when the realm of the Deaf Community is accessible as indicated earlier.
Yours fondly,
Miles
Oh! I had actually forgotten to ask you one question…what does the acronym ‘PC’ stands for?
Regards,
Miles
Police Constable ? Political Correctness ? I suggest the latter. A system of terminology, developed via access laws and mainstream originally, governed by using particular wordings and spellings and alternative descriptions and terms, to describe our issues so we don’t get offended by them, later taken over by us, to attack by decibel, by lifestyle, and by communication medium.. anyone who was different, you can’t call deaf people deaf they need it capitalised or they don’t know what they are supposed to be… a ridiculous idea but has spawned a whole new set up of political correctness, our very own version….
Miles
Thanks for your comments. It is when we read comments like that that we are inspired to continue.
Occasionally we do Auslan versions. We would really love to do an Auslan version for everything that we write. Time, quality of the video and the like all impede us from doing so.
Perhaps one of the Deaf Societies might like to take it up and transcribe The Rebuttal as part of their information services. Any takers?
For your info PC means politically correct.