Sherrie will need to get a banner done
Deaf Strong
,There are 466 million people in the world with disabling hearing loss and in Australia, almost 20,000 people use Auslan (Australia's version of sign language) to communicate. To understand what Deaf Australians are experiencing during COVID19, it is important to know that sign language was banned by people who thought it was better to teach Deaf people to lip read and write (to 'integrate' them into society). The problem was (and still is) that lip reading and writing are not as effective, they leave BIG gaps in communication. SHERRIE SOMETHING MORE HERE? TO HELP PEOPLE UNDERSTAND ITS ONLY PARTLY COMMUNICATION. The ban on Auslan wasn't challenged until 1970, when sign language was recognised as a language. Despite this reform, many families, friends, communities, services and organisations dont learn Auslan or access Auslan interpreters.
These issues were accentuated during COVID19 restrictions which isolated Deaf people. Communication via Zoom is two dimensional and creates eye and brain fatigue. Deaf kids learning from home lost connection with their schools Auslan interpreters, had difficulty learning remotely and were often at home with parents who are not deaf and cant use Auslan.
The #DeafStrong Campaign is a partnership with Deaf community members to help the broader community understand what Deaf people experience - and how to be better allies.
These issues were accentuated during COVID19 restrictions which isolated Deaf people. Communication via Zoom is two dimensional and creates eye and brain fatigue. Deaf kids learning from home lost connection with their schools Auslan interpreters, had difficulty learning remotely and were often at home with parents who are not deaf and cant use Auslan.
The #DeafStrong Campaign is a partnership with Deaf community members to help the broader community understand what Deaf people experience - and how to be better allies.
How to participate - Be an Auslan Ally
Heres how to be an Auslan Ally
- Learn the basics of Auslan
- If you produce any video content - use closed captions
- Sherrie what else?
Story Gallery - Stories from Deaf community members
We have invited Deaf people from around the world to share a story of their experiences to the Kindness Pandemic Facebook Group. This will help our 570,000 members understand the importance of being an Auslan Ally. If you would like to share your story - please do so directly to the Group and use the hashtag #AuslanAllies so we can find your post. We will share your post here as well. You can also contact us using the details below.
Story Gallery - Stories from Deaf Allies
We are looking for families, friends, communities, teams, services and organisations to share their stories of being #AuslanAllies. We would love to hear about groups of people that learned Auslan together. Contact us using the details below to share your story.
Resources
Sherrie - what resources can we put here
Partners
Sherrie - is the partnership directly with you? or an organisation? Do you have a website or links to your work we can include here?
