The Rebuttal

It’s National Week of Deaf People. It has given me cause to reflect on my long involvement with the Deaf community. Despite the title of this article, I am not losing my mind – although others may beg to differ. What the title is referring to in this piece is whether the Deaf community is LOSING IT. Not in terms of its mind, but rather in its identity and history.

I remember the first time that I set eyes on the iconic Deaf community home at 262 South Terrace in Adelaide. This was in 1983 when I took part in a youth activity to the Monash adult playground. The late John Hallett was the youth group leader at the time. I didn’t go into the building; just hopped on the bus outside of it.

Now that little trip was probably my first true exposure to the Deaf community. Young people on the trip told me about the Deaf Club on Friday nights. I met a nice young Deaf girl on the trip so going to the Deaf Club had an added attraction.

This began a regular Friday night thing. I would hop on the bus from Para Hills and go to the Deaf Club. I’d have a beer or three, then hit the nightclubs after. Through the Deaf Club, I got roped into playing Deaf cricket. So in the summer it was cricket on Wednesdays, Kings Head for a drink and the last bus home at 12:15. This would be followed by the Deaf Club on Fridays. Wonderful times.

The Deaf Club was my social thing. After that initial exposure in 1983, I had gone to England and experienced Deaf Clubs over there. I studied in Brisbane and had the pleasure of attending Newmarket Deaf Club in Queensland. In the ensuing years, I was lucky to experience Stanmore Deaf Club in NSW and Jolimont Deaf Club in Melbourne. Fantastic places to meet Deaf people and make new friends.

In 1989 I got a job at the Royal South Australian Deaf Society at the great old 262. I struck up a good friendship with Donovan Cresdee and John Hallett. I learnt of the rich history of the Deaf community through their eyes.

Prior to that, the Deaf Club was just my source of fun. I knew very little about the history but when I started work at the old 262 building, I got exposure to so much history. I used to love Wednesdays when the Senior Citizens group came. I’d sit with them through my lunch break and they would tell me stories of the rich history of the building. Boy were they rebels. The regaled me with many tales including one of a prominent Deaf community member who apparently rode his motorcycle up the stairs of 262!

I learnt of marriages upstairs in the chapel. It was a beautiful chapel. I believe the chapel was designed by members of the Deaf community. Seating was semi-circular so that all could see each other. The seats were slightly higher in each row so vision was not impeded. I understand the chapel was lovingly built by Deaf tradespeople as well. We talk about Deaf Space today like it’s a new and recent thing. Well it’s been around for a very long time.

I learnt of the fundraising efforts of the Deaf community to pay for 262. I learnt how the Deaf community volunteered their time to develop the building. It was theirs. They owned it and they were rightly proud of their Deaf home and its history.

The Deaf Club used to be the hub of action of the Australian Deaf Games. Registrations would be at the Deaf Club. At the end of the sporting day, participants of the Games would hone in to the Deaf Club. Stories of the day’s sport would be shared. Many a Deaf person met their future partners during these times. It was a time when people recognised that the Deaf Club and the State Deaf Society were an integral part of the Deaf community.

I guess the one negative of the old Deaf Society model was that they were led mostly by hearing people. Even so, it was recognised across Australia that the Deaf Society and Deaf Club were often the soul of the Deaf community. But not any more.

The National Week of Deaf People has given me cause to look back on these wonderful memories. I have witnessed wonderful events recently that have been led and organised by Deaf people and these have made me reflect on the years gone by. There was the wonderful Deaf Eco Summit in Sydney. Straight after the Summit was the fantastically organised Deaf Festival that was attended by over 4000 people. Fabulous! Kudos to Deaf Connect for their wonderful support of these two brilliant events.

Then there was the Flow Festival. Another showcase of Deaf culture with Deaf creative artists that incorporated our First Nations Deaf people and culture. This was wonderfully led by the fantastic Sigrid McDonald and her team. For a week, we had a thriving hub where the Deaf community could meet and feel pride in its achievements and rich culture once again.

These events were free, save some of the ticketed performances and the stalls that businesses had to pay for. However, the Deaf community could just rock up and mingle at no cost. It was fantastic to see.

Whilst I celebrate these wonderful events, I still hanker for those days of old. Those days where the Deaf community had community hubs to be proud of. Where they could access their rich history, institutions and heritage. I hanker for that time where these institutions and their history could be accessed freely and with pride by the Deaf community.

It just seems a bit sad to me now that the rich history and sense of belonging that I was able to experience can now only be accessed when these big events like the Deaf Eco Summit, Deaf Festival or Flow Festival are organised. Long may those events continue, but I think it’s good to look back on what we once had, and maybe fight to restore some of it.

In the meantime, I guess I’ll have to be satisfied with the events that the Deaf community work so hard to organise so that the sense of community and history is not lost. It’s either that or PAYING for a tour of one of our great Deaf institutions that is now no longer freely available to the Deaf community. Yep, we gotta pay!

And that is a real tragedy!