In recent days, there has been a flurry of articles in regards to the discovery of stem cells curing deafness in gerbils.
Articles can be found here:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10833885
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19570024
This has resulted in an upset Deaf community with opinions that this is a form of genocide, even Marlee Matlin; a Deaf actress has spoken about her fears for this ‘cure.’
http://www.contactmusic.com/news/marlee-matlin-fears-for-deaf-stem-cell-treatment_1414959
Since the story broke, I have been watching a debate on this very topic, and thinking about it. This is not a blog post about stem cell research, or even about curing Deafness. This is a post about the Deaf community.
The uproar against the gerbil deafness cure has proven to me that this is a community that really wants to protect itself, to keep it going. And I can see why.
This is a community that will get together in times of need, when there is a trauma, they will congregate and work together. Take for example, the Christchurch earthquake in 2011. This was a time of great need and the Deaf community really banded together to support each other. The Deaf Society of Canterbury was closed due to engineer’s reports and so they had to make do with different premises and they carried on doing what they could do, in the best of their ability. This shows great resolve. The staff of the Christchurch Deaf Aotearoa office did great work to ensure that everyone was okay, even though they had to think about their own families. And last but not least, there were two interpreters who are part of the Deaf community who did amazing work for them by interpreting next to Bob Parker during the Earthquake media releases.
When Deaf people travel, they like to meet other Deaf people in different countries. In New Zealand, we hear of visitors coming to our home town and we are always happy to host them or show them around. It doesn’t matter that we have never met them before. We still take them in and look after them. That kind of thing does not really happen in the hearing world that I know of.
The Deaf community has a rich history, Deaf people are fantastic historians and will remember events of years gone by and are more than happy to tell those stories to anyone who will listen. They really are fantastic. They have a great sense of humour and when the stories are told in sign language, you cannot help but feel involved in those stories.
The Deaf community members love to organise events. And they do organise fantastic events. They plan well in advance, organise the best entertainment, and most of all, they make events into ones that people talk about for decades.
The Deaf community has their own quirks – the long goodbye, where they take about 2 hours to say goodbye to someone, the Deaf nod – where they nod when they don’t understand someone, signing to each other from a distance, just because they can!
The Deaf community has its own version of the Olympics – effectively called the Deaflympics. The Deaf community is against merging with the Paralympics because they feel their identity will be taken away during the Games and their Deafness is a huge part of their identity. The Deaflympics is not only a platform where they can compete against their own peers, but also to meet people from other countries, and become firm friends. I attended the 2009 Summer Deaflympics in Taiwan to represent New Zealand in the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD) congress and met a lot of lovely people.
The Deaf community also has its own governing body – the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) which is wholly governed by Deaf people. Every four years, there is a congress where different topics relating to Deafness is presented. I attended the congress in South Africa in 2011 and met so many people and enjoyed their company. I also learned a lot and brought some of that knowledge back to New Zealand and still hope to use that knowledge to benefit the Deaf community.
Deaf people are hard workers. They will not stop until they have achieved something. Take for example, the case against Telecom to establish the NZ Relay – this took seven years and did they give up? No. They were successful in their battle to set up the NZ Relay which is very successful today. Another example is the fight to add captions on television more than 20 years ago. This battle still continues, with a different group of people who are focusing on a broader range to caption. I am part of this captioning battle and it has been a very proud and exciting time for me, knowing that we have managed to do this successfully when Sky TV added captions to 17 channels and we will always be grateful for this.
Last but not least, the Deaf community has its own language. Sign Language. In New Zealand, it is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) and it is celebrated every year with NZSL Week in the first week of May. Interest is high from the hearing people and taster classes are always popular. NZSL Week has gained international interest and some countries even want to host their own SL week, using the NZSL model.
Interestingly enough, Deaf people do not see themselves as disabled, but rather a cultural and linguistic minority. And I can see why after writing this blog post. This is a community that is rich in history, has this amazing ability to band together in times of need, has its own language, will welcome strangers in their homes and have their own cultural quirks.
I am proud to be part of such a unique community. When I joined the Deaf community at 18, it was like coming home and finding my long lost family. It is a great feeling, knowing that I have two families to turn to – my biological family and my Deaf family. This does not happen to everyone and I feel very privileged to have this, as do many members of the Deaf community.
All in all, I can understand why Deaf people are upset about the Gerbil Cure. But the way I see it, a community as strong as the Deaf community can never be eradicated. There is just too much strength there that they will never allow this to happen.
By the way, I don’t want to put a gerbil in my ears, things might get a bit fuzzy!
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