Selina
Content Warning: These stories are about violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation and may include references to suicide or self-harming behaviours. They may contain graphic descriptions and strong language and may be distressing. Some narratives may be about First Nations people who have passed away. If you need support, please see Contact & support.
‘It feels like there is discrimination against Deaf children, you know, by putting us in a subpar environment and expecting us to perform on par. There are no options to fit our needs.’
Selina is in her 30s and has been deaf since she was a toddler. In her early childhood she lived overseas where she had a cochlear implant and used sign language at school.
‘When I moved to Australia I moved into a high school that was mainstream and educated through the oralism method,’ Selina told the Royal Commission, referring to the use of speech and lip-reading rather than signing. ‘When I was growing up I never was taught to speak … then I went to a high school where you couldn’t sign.’
One day in the playground she tried to teach her friends how to sign.
‘A teacher walked past and had muttered something and I didn’t catch what she said. But then there was a strange vibe. The kids then looked at me [and] said, “We’re not allowed to sign.” And that really confused me.’
Selina said the school offered her little support apart from someone occasionally taking notes for her.
‘There wasn’t any sit-down consultation about what support I need … I wasn’t sure what support I was allowed to ask for or what support I was going to get. Over time I taught myself how to speak and how to lip-read.’
Selina struggled in senior high school when her teachers expected her to ‘perform on par with [her] hearing peers’ even though she struggled to follow what they were saying in class.
‘The teachers would often think that I would have what they would call “selective hearing” … because I responded to my name … but any other things I wouldn’t understand. So the teachers often thought I was being deceitful or being sly in terms of how I responded to spoken English.’
She said high school was ‘a bit of a fail’ because of her poor access to information.
‘If I had access and support particularly with maths I would have been fine. But I didn’t.’
Selina is now studying to be a teacher.
‘I know that I’ve got a huge road ahead of me in terms of advocating for students, and I’m already tired. I’m not looking forward to that challenge … I don’t want to have to fight the system to advocate that [Deaf] students’ needs [must] be equal to that of their hearing peers and go through all of that again.’
Disclaimer: This is the story of a person who shared their personal experience with the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability through a submission or private session. The names in this story are pseudonyms. The person who shared this experience was not a witness and their account is not evidence. They did not take an oath or affirmation before providing the story. Nothing in this story constitutes a finding of the Royal Commission. Any views expressed are those of the person who shared their experience, not of the Royal Commission.