Bridging Silence Illusions of Accessibility for the Deaf

how many of you are interested in

learning indian sign language raise your

hands

great so the kind of example and the

kind of access i give you

right now for example we have a deaf

interpreter on stage standing next to me

because i’m signing a mix of american

sign language as well as indian sign

language and

my deaf interpreter there is signing isl

for the deaf indians

and i to have two voice interpreters

with me to give

access so that you understand what i’m

saying and the topic is focusing on the

misconceptions of accessibility

for the deaf in india before i dig deep

into my

presentation there will be two points

which i want to tell you about

our deaf community

you would know that society generally

labels

and i want to know what kind of label

would you give to people who do not hear

or do not speak

you have you see these different options

in front of you

i want you to raise your hand which for

the label which you agree that yes this

is the right label

for person who does not hear or does not

speak

are you ready a deaf and dumb

raise your hand if you agree b

deaf and mute raise your hand if you

agree

c hearing impaired

d half or hard of hearing

e death

only a few hands f specially or

differently abled

g divyang

and h speech and hearing impaired

interesting so the answer is

death all these labels

who have come up with these labels

non-deaf people

we just have one word to define

ourselves that’s d

e a f one simple word that’s what we

prefer to be called

and we request you the fact is the media

the tv

you know there’s so much news about us

they ignore and they don’t

listen and they decide to call us what

we actually don’t like so this is the

kind of awareness we want to spread to

you

and let you know that we like to be

called only as d

e a f def the second misconception is

so since i moved to india i have been

working with various here is

hearing individuals hearing

professionals in various fields i have

been chatting

with various people about indian sign

language and i’ve heard their opinions

and i want to tell you

three misconceptions which i have found

out from

these people i have been visiting many

schools in india all over the country

deaf schools especially meeting the

teachers the administrators

and they think sign language is not a

true language indian sign language is

just a way to support the deaf child to

write or to speak

that’s a major misconception

out of 134 billion people there are at

least one

crore deaf people in india

when hearing people see deaf people

gesturing with their hands their faces

their body they think deaf people are

acting like monkeys you know they think

deaf people shouldn’t stop signing

because

they’re not monkeys they should just

speak instead

that is a misconception

the third misconception is

the majority of hearing people in india

because of their hearing and their

ability to speak

and to communicate with the family in

school in their jobs they’re successful

but when they think there’s a deaf

person who cannot hear or speak

they think this person cannot succeed

that again is a major misconception

i want to inform you indian sign

language is an authentic

and a natural language equivalent to

written and spoken languages all over

the country i want to give you an

example

there’s a video where i’ll show you that

there are captions in this video at the

same time the person is also signing

let’s see how

equivalent it is

yes i consider myself an experienced

driver taking a lot of tours and rides

the loud honking sounds may irritate

hearing people

but it’s not our problem we cannot hear

which is an amazing advantage for us

we drive in peace and safety

did you see this does he look like a

monkey

it’s a true language so teachers you

know you might think that sign language

is not an authentic language this is not

right

and deaf people growing up naturally you

know it’s not

necessary that they have to use spoken

language

deaf people can succeed in life without

speaking while using sign language

the only need for accessibility is sign

language

now we are ready to start talking about

the various misconceptions

where we think how to provide

accessibility for the indian dev

community

now i have been in the country since

2016 and the rights of persons with

disability act

was passed hearing people actually think

that yes the law has been passed

accessibility

yoga incorrect but the deaf people think

that no it is not enough we are not

getting what is mandated we are still

missing out

and now i want to give you various

examples of what we think

is our need

india has 90 of parents who are hearing

and their children are deaf 90 of them

are hearing parents so their parents you

know of course sign language is not

their first language

now can you imagine at home the child

has no understanding

and there are two videos in front of you

i would like you to watch these two

videos and tell us

which clip the child understands better

are we ready

at the same time this video has i mean

the parents are hearing and the child is

deaf

yes i learned sign language is very good

i’m told sign language works well

where are we going now see the first

video which is on your left

the boy has a confusion on his face he’s

not connected with his father

this is such a huge loss there is no

understanding

and the second video you will see the

parents

the mother especially has taken an isl

course she comes back home so that she

you know you see the boy he’s happy he’s

connected with his parents

but the father again is not that

interested but that’s okay but can you

imagine all over the country

is this the kind of access or the other

one so deaf shouldn’t have to have

access at home

now we’ll give you three misconceptions

which are related to schools and

colleges

you see two pictures one on your left

the other on your right

there’s a on the left and b on the right

we want you to tell us

which is the probable situation at this

point of time in india

so how many of you think it’s a the one

on your left please raise your hand

how many of you think it’s b the one on

your right

all right so so anyways the first

picture on your left you see the

children

they have fear they are in doubt they’re

stressed the teacher is hitting them not

allowing them to use sign language the

teacher herself doesn’t know sign

language so she’s hitting this child

telling them to you have to speak in the

second picture

you see how the hearing children are

happy they’re all hearing but they are

interested in learning indian sign

language same as you raised your hand

and said i want to learn indian sign

language

right and the teacher who’s teaching is

deaf

so do you see the irony can you imagine

a child who’s deaf his natural language

they are not being allowed

and people whose sign language would be

the second or the third language they

are being encouraged to sign this is a

huge issue

this huge hugely impacts their lifelong

learning their cognitive skills

first of all language development

doesn’t happen their cognitive skills

are delayed

their literacy levels are hugely

impacted because of this

so you have to remember all schools and

universities

must provide access through sign

language in classrooms

now many schools in india there are over

350 special schools in the country

there are two different methodologies

which teachers use to teach

and basically focus on language

development i want you to look at both

the videos

and think which is giving understanding

and access to the child

to develop language

and i didn’t want to cheat i didn’t want

to cheat and fast my exam i tried i

tried i learned everything when the exam

came

they were telling me to cheat but i

didn’t want to cheat i passed the exam i

wrote everything i was hoping i’ll get a

job i prayed to ganesha i prayed to

krishna

do you see the difference the first

video the kid

they are orating the same sounds the

same lift movements again and again and

again

they don’t understand the words nor they

understand what they’re speaking and

this is not true language jim

imagine the impact it has on their

cognitive skills their general knowledge

that is why the education they’re

failing

they don’t read they can’t write on the

other hand the picture on your right

this

child is naturally born to sign and he’s

digging deep he’s telling his own story

how he passed in his exams how he prayed

and all over india 95

of the teachers do not use sign language

and these children you know they miss

out maybe so many years they miss out on

language they miss out on everything

the situation in india the indian

government thinks inclusive education is

magic you know it’s going to be

successful we’re going to solve the

situation it’s going to

quality education can be provided and

you know it’s gonna be a safe place

we’re gonna save so much of money

i think it’s a situation like a zoo you

know when you have so many animals

there’s a lion there’s an elephant

there maybe a giraffe monkeys all of

them in one classroom

do you think this is possible

the teachers would be eaten by this by

these animals right

all these different animals they of

course you won’t be all of them won’t be

able to communicate within

themselves will the teacher be able to

match the lion the giraffe the monkey

separately

on the other hand you see the picture

all of them are lions

the teacher is also a lion we are

talking about

the dynamic equilibrium of language

within this classroom compare this to

the schooling

when children in an inclusive classroom

this will not succeed

why the teacher is unable to sign

there are other students who do not know

how to sign

where is the attention they would not be

able to understand anything there is no

access to the media of instruction

there’s nothing

now if there’s a teacher who’s deaf and

if the students are deaf

same language medium of instruction is

same there’s access to all the

instructions in classroom

more general knowledge more

understanding

so the three misconceptions which are

telling you about in education

this is happening all over the country

and we have to allow these schools to

start sign language because there can be

only development of language and

education so that means all teachers

must sign

we are talking about accessibility in

media and television now

we’ll show you these two videos you have

to identify which one provides access

for the indian deaf community

the second video

yes you see how the ball is coming and

the batsman you know he takes a cut and

there are three players right there

ah the three players he’s waiting for

the point for the point guy you know

so two pictures we have 500 matches

which have already been won in india

and this is a great great thing

in the first video you see the newspaper

reporters are speaking

but for the deaf community this is not

accessible we won’t understand in the

second video

there is a hearing reporter and there is

also a deaf reporter who’s signing what

is being said in isl

this is the most effective model where

india must give access to media and

television

so they’re both languages and both the

communities have access

this is the model and this is what we

want in the country

all of you i’m sure have gone to the

railway stations

listening to the announcements change of

platform change of

time of arrival time of departure you

all have access and understanding

right let me show you the video

right you understood everything right

but for the deaf people who are in or

you know going somewhere

they’re always tense they’re always

afraid they’re always in a state of

worry because they’re gonna miss the

train

now in europe in some countries they’re

giving three-way access

one is a widget you see the picture

there’s a person who’s signing

at the same time their captions and the

third you see the speakerphone

all in one so they’re three-way

communication that all people have

access so this is in the train in the

railway stations at airports all public

places

access to all

well all of you are using smartphones

right you download various kind of apps

you book your clothes you book your

things whatever you want to buy you want

food you want

taxi everything is available on the apps

it’s an amazing idea

but for us deaf it’s a major challenge

why the girl she will show you what the

challenge is

so i like to do online shopping via

amazon

via myntra we are different apps and i

like to purchase stuff online

but where i face the challenge is after

booking my product

the delivery guy gives me a call however

i am a deaf person and i have to rely on

a hearing person to take

calls for me so the access is missing

here

now this is what all deaf people

experience every single day

yes there’s one app called uber which is

giving a little bit of access

now uber has ready text messages which

says i’m here

being right here coming soon so that’s

easy for the riders to send this message

but the same time there are challenges

because all taxi drivers do not know

english

right they still call us so is it

possible for you to actually imagine how

can we make these apps accessible

that they don’t have to call us it’s not

necessary

now we talk about accessibility in

meetings especially workplaces

the doctor’s office bank police stations

government offices because right now

there are many deaf people who are

working at various companies

but wherever they are their boss their

co-workers their colleagues they’re all

discussing and unfortunately

there is no accessibility in the

meetings you will see both the pictures

they’re not understanding nothing you

see the question marks on the head of

two people

and the second picture you see a light

bulb in front of two people why

because there’s an interpreter standing

next to the meet the miss to the boss so

they feel equal they feel involved they

feel

interactive and this is where

development of their career is happening

because just imagine tedx right now we

are talking about accessibility

nowadays technology of course is the

buzzword i.t ict

the innovation is on a boom right

there’s so many solutions coming out

from technology so now you have your app

you speak into your phone it becomes

text isn’t it

now do you remember i told you that deaf

children when they grow up they have

missed 15 to 18 years of

education this doesn’t match them

because the second or third language

fluency is not happening at the same

time you see the third picture

all of you are thinking that

interpreters can be removed and they can

be some type of an avatar or some kind

of a linguistic uh some type of a

because sign language is a very

lin you know the paralinguistic aspects

like the movements the facial

expressions the body language

technology cannot take in all of this

and i see

many groups many people who are coming

up with ideas they forget to involve us

they don’t involve these deaf people in

the process we are the people who are

facing these challenges

won’t we know better hearing people

won’t have these challenges how would

you understand

it’s a must for deaf people to be

involved in these kind of innovations

and

creative processes

all these misconceptions misconceptions

in schools at workplaces

at important public places now we’re

going to show you a very short video

this is a video about a deaf person in

turkey

and the community actually gave them a

full access a day of full access so

let’s see how that looks like

good morning

we’ve got hot bagels

i’d like to offer you an apple do you

know him

thank you bye hey is he is he is he

hearing bed

i don’t know he’s signing

sorry my mistake what’s going on

i don’t know

hi welcome welcome hi

yes you see how the community is giving

full access and he was wondering he was

so curious how

everybody suddenly started signing the

shopkeeper the fruit seller the taxi

driver

this is what we are talking about this

is full access this is what we call

inclusion where hearing and the deaf

people are together and the language is

accessible

are you interested in learning sign

language yes

are you ready to support us so i want

you to copy what i’m signing i

put your fingers support like that

indian sign language let’s do it again

i pointing to yourself support

india indian sign language thank you so

much