Avril, Rana and Jaci
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.
Avril ‘sucks at hide and seek’.
Her mother Jaci says this is because Avril is ‘profoundly deaf in one ear … and even if she hears the sound she can’t identify where it is coming from’.
She also has mild hearing loss in her other ear. Her ability to comprehend speech in noisy environments is ‘seriously compromised’. Yet, Jaci told the Royal Commission, Avril’s disability is often ignored. People ‘only look at the "better" ear, ignoring all the research showing detrimental effects of being profoundly single-sided deaf’.
When Avril needed a cochlear implant for her ‘profoundly deaf ear’ it took eight months and ‘excessive amounts’ of advocacy for her to be assessed.
When Jaci tried to enrol Avril in a public school with a hearing unit, she was told her daughter wasn’t eligible because of her ‘better’ ear.
Avril is also ‘not deaf enough’ to attend preschools or schools with bilingual Auslan programs, even though ‘she is likely to lose the hearing in her “better” ear and may end up dependent on Auslan’.
Additionally, Avril didn’t qualify for hearing aids until she turned five. ‘Why did she need them at five-years-old and not earlier?’ Jaci asks.
Jaci’s older son Rana is in prep. He has ‘mild bilateral [hearing] loss’ and uses hearing aids and the FM system in class.
But Jaci says ‘it takes hours, weeks every time he gets a new kindergarten teacher, school teacher, specialist teacher’ to bring them up to speed on how hearing aids and the FM system work. Jaci thinks Rana ‘should qualify for a teacher of the Deaf to come and educate staff on his needs’.
Jaci also says there is ‘not enough access to Auslan at kindergarten or school’. There are only a few schools with Auslan ‘as either primary language, bilingual or Language other than English (LOTE)’ and she is unable to find a private Auslan children’s language class or private teacher.
Jaci wants ‘Auslan to be the LOTE for most public schools’ and the discrimination ‘against single-sided deaf children’ to end.
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.