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