SWC June 2007 Newsletter

In a country in which approximately 40% of the population lives below the breadline, we have to contend with factors such as overwhelming poverty, poverty-related crime and illness, disease (the incidence of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa is the highest in the world) and failure of education and the media to reach into all homes and touch all families. We also have superstition, although many would not call it that. We have traditions, and these are worthy of respect except when they bring harm to others and limit freedom and personal growth. We are a Rainbow Nation.

Our authorities have their hands rather full attempting to procure a satisfactory quality of life for all: no easy task. Looking specifically at hearing loss, there aren't a whole lot of government funds available for expenditure in this direction. Even when accommodations and facilities are in place (as in the case of specific schools which have been set up by the government), there are folks who do not know about these and are therefore cut off from receiving benefits. And while there is lobbying for better services for those with hearing loss (I take my hat off to the cultural Deaf here), not a great proportion of the population is involved in this. People in rural areas, possibly with little education and with little or no exposure to the media, have had little chance to become aware of what IS possible, and what is being missed.

A couple of examples follow, from my own experience at the school for the Deaf at which I worked, and which have a bearing on how ignorance of facilities can influence lives. "X" was deaf, nine years old, and his father was not aware that deaf children could be educated and that there was a school for them within easy reach. Father worked as a driver for a garage which happened to service the vehicle belonging to a member of staff. When he delivered the car to the school following the service, he found himself in the midst of little people very much like his son. Happy ending. It is hard when the optimal stages for early learning are bypassed, but better this way than not at all.

The second example has more to do with traditions and how they may interpose themselves between what is judged optimal for a child and what the community favors. "F," three years old, was brought in as a likely candidate for our school, together with her young but enthusiastic mother, by the mother's employer. She proved to be an ideal candidate, and the employer volunteered to sponsor her through school. Comes the new year, though, and "F" does not show up. What went wrong? The sponsor is sad. The tribal authority was very against a specialized type of education, particularly of the type that would require boarding in a school hostel. He had refused to sanction this, and the mother was not prepared to go against his dictates.

Not only children are affected, of course. Carol, a fellow South African, gave me permission to "lift" an experience she described. She says: "The other day my husband was with me at the checkout and the young man checking out the groceries must have spoken to me and I didn't respond so my husband explained that I was deaf. A conversation ensued between the two men which, I didn't try to listen to. (Good thing). Later my husband told me the checkout guy said, 'You are very good to stay with her,' meaning because I was so deaf. Ha! He said in his community a lot of men would not stay with a deaf wife. My husband took it in the spirit it was meant, a compliment and a genuine attempt to communicate."

Tragedies occur in every culture. There are spouses and partners who cannot live with hearing loss in a significant other. I think, though, that that may be the exception rather than the rule in cultures in which most of us here find ourselves. In this young grocery attendant's culture, it appeared to be the rule rather than the exception. What chance would there be for those women, thus "put away" - even to procure hearing aids?

The above sounds rather negative, and it is, but only in terms of the fact that a significant proportion of the population is excluded from what benefits there are. Let's look at some of these:

Education within schools for the Deaf and deaf has long been available and is subsidized by the government, except in the case of privately run schools and preschools. If conventional schools can accommodate children with hearing loss by means of amplification and other accommodations made by staff, such children may be placed there. There are also the Partially Hearing Units within certain conventional schools which cater for hard of hearing and deaf learners whose families prefer the aural-oral mode of learning. Since the passing of the South African Schools Act in 1996, though, government schools for the Deaf employ South African

Sign Language as the language of teaching and learning. Private schools, at pre-school and school "proper" levels, are able to choose language of instruction. Children may enter government schools as young as three, and stay until they have completed either grade 12, or what, for them, is an optimal level of education. While we have no places of tertiary learning specifically for deaf / Deaf youngsters, certain universities and Technicons employ sign language interpreters as need arises. For the oral deaf, though, no corresponding captioning facility exists.

Availability of captioning itself is very new, and we have it, now, on television, for selected movies on one of the pay channels, certainly not within the reach of everyone. Subtitling is relatively new, too, and accompanies certain serial programs on open channels. No court reporters are officially trained here, so one cannot apply for a captioner for meetings, court appearances and other gatherings. Interpreters, on the other hand, can be made available for court appearances, many gatherings where Deaf folks will be present, and some news presentations on open television programs are signed as well as spoken.

Hearing aids, cochlear implants, and assistive listening devices - all are available, and audiologists are trained to a high level of competence at several of our universities. Financing of these aids is a problem though, and presently, while medical aids assist, they seldom cover all expenses. Hearing aid companies will sometimes make aids available to indigent children, and certain hospitals and university clinics are able to discount these. Service clubs, too, have taken needs very much to heart, as have private individuals. The technology exists and is probably among the best.

Finding the wherewithal to pay for it is another question, though.

Finally, although we have no legislation in place which parallels the Americans with Disabilities Act, an Integrated National Disability Strategy was published in a government White Paper in 1997. In his foreword, our president says:

"Through the establishment of the Office on the Status of Disabled Persons, in my office, our government wishes to express its unswerving commitment to the upliftment and improvement of the conditions of those members of our society who are disabled....”

Research estimates that between 5 and 12% of South Africans are moderately to severely disabled. Despite this large percentage of disabled people, few services and opportunities exist for people with disabilities to participate equally in society.

This White Paper represents the government's thinking about what it can contribute to the development of disabled people and to the promotion and protection of their rights. We believe in a partnership with disabled people. Therefore the furtherance of our joint objectives can only be met by the involvement of people with disabilities themselves.

The Integrated National Disability Strategy will kick-start a further process involving disabled people in the development of specific policies and legislation aimed at giving effect to the recommendations contained in the White Paper."

We are getting there, I think!