Owen
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.
‘I feel I am fulfilling the role as a parent to my dad and would like to be just his son for a day.’
Owen’s first language is Auslan. His mum and dad are Deaf and non-verbal.
As the oldest child, Owen told the Royal Commission, everyone assumed he would be his parents’ interpreter ‘and not a son’. This was the late 1980s and there were very few services available for his parents.
By the time Owen started primary school he was speaking to companies about his parents’ affairs. He remembers when someone phoned he would say, ‘My parents are deaf, they can’t hear or speak.’ Sometimes people would reply, ‘I’m sorry to hear your parents are dead.’ Other times they insisted on talking to his mum or dad. Owen had to get his mum or dad to make sounds into the phone. ‘The response I usually got from the operator was a laugh or thinking the call was a prank call.’
One day Owen and his mum were walking together and his mum was hit by a car. Owen was very upset, but he remembers being told not to cry because he had to interpret for her.
‘This prepared me to be mum’s interpreter on the operating table in the hospital, and other responsibilities for my mum’s health including her personal life changes with getting older. I have seen my mum in very vulnerable positions and seen her personal dignity not being upheld by medical professionals.’
Owen interpreted for his parents at schools, in the community and in shops.
‘I would constantly get people starring, pointing and laughing at me and my parents, I even had parents mimic a Deaf person with their voice and humiliate both myself and my parents.’
Owen also had to negotiate for his father in the workplace.
‘These occasions caused me a huge amount of distress as I needed to develop diplomatic skills in order for my dad to get payed and continue to still work there.’
A few years ago Owen had to move interstate for work. His parents text and skype him daily wanting help.
Owen’s father recently turned 65 and isn’t eligible for the NDIS. He receives the Disability Support Pension and is on the waiting list for a My Aged Care package.
‘The cost of Auslan interpreters has increased since the introduction of the NDIS pricing schedule. How is this fair for people not on the NDIS?’ Owen asked. His dad is charged a minimum two hours – approximately $268. ‘How does someone on the Disability Support Pension afford this? … I feel that government policy has discriminated against him due to his age.’
Currently, Owen’s dad can only access funding for an interpreter for medical appointments. However, unlike NDIS participants, he can’t choose his own interpreters. Owen has to talk with his dad about each interpreter and make the booking. ‘I need an interpreter that I can approach through the medical system which can explain everything to my parents which provides equal access to what is offered to NDIS Deaf participants.’
Owen is concerned his father is becoming isolated without him there.
He wants government policy to consider both the Deaf adult and their children.
‘All children of deaf adults need an emergency communication plan in place that is funded through Deaf societies when they can't sign … All Deaf societies should expand their services not to just the Deaf but also children of Deaf adults. Early intervention is the key.’
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.