Rebekah Rose-Mundy's response to Tony Abraham's Letter to the SMH

Thank you Tony for your response I am pleased to see you are still seeing ‘Sign Language’ is still viable for many deaf children thank you. This is important to me to know that. However I still have questions that are not answered.

How can a deaf child find out what a word means? It a one way communication, how does the deaf child have the chance to ask a question? Even with a 7 second delay and for the deaf child to absorb the information, consider a question, type in the question? (I am not sure how the 2 way communication fit in?) and it will take total about 30-40 seconds? I am assuming. Students unable to hear the question, does the teacher rephrase the question or just give the answer?  This will disrupt the class or you will provide Ai Live awareness training to the whole class? The whole school?

I think it wonderful to see a business is becoming successful and that there are a few deaf people within the business as well who are in the management level of the business. Why aren’t they saying something? Why didn’t they inform the deaf community? Why didn’t they reply instead of you, Tony?

Another thing, why wasn’t the option of Ai-Live and Interpreting is the ideal choice for signing deaf children promote in all of the public media? My biggest concern is that because my children are bi-lingual they have access to both spoken English and sign language. The Department of Education will say to me ‘Your son can use speech, can hear well with hearing aids and is able to read English so Ai-Live is the access we will give. Your son does not need an interpreter’ when I would love to provide both Ai-Live and interpreter for my children BUT is the Department of Education going to accept that? Probably not because they can see a cheaper solution and therefore do not have the concept of understanding of deaf children and their needs