Make Disability Rights Real

1. Make Disability Rights Real Presentation by Rachel Lai and Sheena Helton Deaf Services Limited

2. About

3. Deaf Services

4. Community • Office locations: • Brisbane (Northside & Southside) • Gold Coast • Sunshine Coast • Maryborough • Mackay • Townsville • Cairns • Community Outreach • Ipswich • Toowoomba • Rockhampton • Bundaberg • Charters Towers • Ayr/Home Hill

5. Community • Community Access: • Information & referral • Community workshops/events • Individual advocacy • NDIS • Supports coordination • Life skills development • Plan Management • Innovation • Auslan Hub Program • Tele-practice: Speech Pathology / Occupational Therapy • Community access • Auslan classes • Video Remote Interpreting • Information Linkage & Capacity (ILC) building programs • Auslan Translations • Resources

6. Deafness

7. Terminology • Deaf (with a capitalised D) • deaf (with a lowercase d) • Hard of Hearing (HoH) • Hearing Impaired • Deafblind

8. Is everyone the same? • All have different needs • Some have additional disabilities • Educational background & intelligence • Age • Region • Indigenous cultures • Home signs

9. Communication

10. Sign language • Australian Sign Language = Auslan • Different from other sign languages • Different to English • Formally recognised in Australia as a language in 1989

11. Human rights & language • Queensland Human Rights Act passed 2019 • Convention of Rights for Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) • Article 9: Accessibility (1.b.), (2.f. & 2.e.) • Queensland Government Language Services Policy

12. Should have • Information in Auslan • Qualified interpreters and Deaf interpreters (if needed) • Client support if needed (e.g. Deaf Services Community staff) • Resources and/or training about Deafness available to staff

13. Should not • Use of friends or family members to interpret • Use of unqualified interpreters • Inaccessible services, information or resources • Client meetings without an interpreter • Proceed to court without an interpreter

14. Listen to people’s needs

15. Interpreting

16. Auslan interpreting • Interpreters • Different levels of interpreters • Different types of interpreters • ASLIA Code of Ethics • Auslan Connections • Joint venture between Deaf Services & Expression Australia • National interpreting service • Onsite & Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) • NAATI certified interpreters • Job matching

17. Interpreter & Translation Service • Whole of Government interpreting & translation arrangement • HSQ81638 Provision of Interpreter & Translation Services • Standing offer arrangement (SOA) • Panel of six (6) interpreting service providers: • Oncall(Foreign language onsite & telephone interpreting) • 2M(Indigenous languages) • Language Loop (Foreign language telephone interpreting) • Ezispeak(Foreign language telephone interpreting) • Translationz(Foreign language translations) • Deaf Services Limited trading as “Auslan Connections” (Auslan & other Deaf languages)

18. Definition of “Other Deaf languages” • Other deaf languages’ refer to languages used by people who are deaf and: • Use idiosyncratic non-standard signs or gestures such as those commonly referred to as “home signs” which are unique to a family or original village community • Have a cognitive disability (mild or more severe) or multiple disabilities that compromise communication and result in dysfluency • Are linguistically and/or socially isolated with limited conventional language proficiency • Are blind, or deaf with low vision, using tactile or visually modified sign language • Use signs particular to a given region, ethnic or age group that are inaccessible by other qualified interpreters, for example Indigenous Deaf people • Are experiencing complex trust issues where cultural sensitivity/comfort factor is paramount, for example, trauma counselling • Use a foreign sign language and there are no accredited or qualified foreign sign language interpreters available • Are users of a pidgin or contact variety of sign languages or a common international lingua franca known as “International Sign” (I.S.)

19. Eligibility Criteria • Available to any Queensland Government Agency (e.g. JAG) • Available to any not for profit organisation funded by the Queensland Government if they meet the following criteria: • Criteria 1 The NGO must be in receipt of current funding from the Queensland State Government; and • Criteria 2 The NGO must be in a similar category to organisations already on the approval list, that is, the NGO must be an Australian Tax Office (ATO) approvedcharitable institution, of a non-profit, community based, usually philanthropic service type. • Complete and send an non-government organisation procurement application form to NGOApplications@hpw.qld.gov.au

20. Quotes

21. ‘I do not consider Deafness a disability per se. It does not stop the natural enjoyment of life. The only obstacle is actually other people and their attitudes towards Deafness. And for this reason, we endlessly advocate. Going to the shop, we explain. Sitting next to someone, we explain. Applying for a job, we explain. Going to school, we explain. And we get tired. So tired” - Edan, 35

22. “We need to make every single thing accessible to every single person with a disability” – Stevie Wonder “I hope I inspire people who hear. Hearing people have the ability to remove barriers that prevent deaf people from achieving their dreams.” – Marlee Martin I subscribe to what’s called the social model of disability, which tells us that we are more disabled by society than by our bodies and our diagnoses.” – Stella Young “Being deaf or hard of hearing does not cause language delay; it is language deprivation that causes language delay.” - Nancy Grosz Sager “Deaf children suffer language deprivation and everyone know it. It just goes on, to the ruin of yet another generation of deaf children.” – Tom Humphries “Find your ability in your disability.” – NyleDiMarco

23. Mr. Ali claimed that the court officer wrote down the words “guilty” and “not guilty” on a sheet of paper, “evidently requiring him to point to one or the other.” Mr. Ali communicated that he did not believe it was fair for him to select a guilty or not guilty plea without a hearing where he could understand the charges against him.   According to Mr. Ali, “The judge … yelled at him to decide whether he was guilty or not and sign the paper and screamed at him loudly stating… ‘That’s a lie! You can hear me!'” the suit alleges. “The plaintiff pointed to his hearing aid so that the judge would understand that he is Deaf and stated: ‘I am not lying, I am Deaf.’” – ADA Discrimination: The Law is What the Courts Say

24. Contacts

25. Contacts Rachel Lai Community Services Manager E: Rachel.Lai@deafservices.org.au P: (07) 3892 8512 Sheena Helton Auslan Communications Officer E: Sheena.Helton@deafservices.org.au M: 0481 726 745 (Text)

26. Thank you