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Keywords: Deafness

  • AUSTRALIA

    The cities strike back

    • John Warhurst
    • 24 May 2022
    5 Comments

    Governments lose elections, but Oppositions still must demonstrate that they are a capable alternative. Both the Morrison Coalition government and the Albanese Labor Opposition played their part last Saturday. There were many sub-plots in the pattern of voting, but this election was primarily lost and won in the four biggest mainland cities. 

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    The anatomy of hope

    • Fiona Murphy
    • 18 February 2020
    5 Comments

    Over a decade ago, when applying to study physiotherapy, I carefully read through the application form. It contained a brief but troubling caveat: all students must be physically able to participate in the coursework. I felt nervous, even scared. The answer seemed clear cut to me, but would the university agree?

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Deciding to disclose an invisible disability

    • Fiona Murphy
    • 27 November 2018
    6 Comments

    Most people don't realise that I am deaf unless I tell them. My deafness is invisible. I don't wear hearing aids and my voice (though distinct enough to prompt people to ask 'where are you from?') isn't a typical deaf voice. Every day I make small calculations, assessing every interaction to determine if I need to reveal that I have a disability.

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  • EDUCATION

    Children without a language

    • Sarah Klenbort
    • 20 January 2016
    18 Comments

    Six years ago my daughter, Kaitlyn, was diagnosed with progressive hearing loss. I was told by an early intervention centre not to sign with her. 'It may interfere with her spoken language development,' they said, though there's no research to support this claim. When she was three, I went against that advice and began studying Auslan. I enrolled my daughter in the bilingual preschool and she learned to sign better than me. She may well be part of the last generation of deaf children to sign in Australia.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Pity abandoned on the banks of the Parramatta

    • Sarah Klenbort
    • 21 October 2015
    6 Comments

    A young man introduces himself: Ashley. He has sandy blond hair, a lithe body and an ease and grace with the kids. The lessons are free, but my daughter doesn't wait to for this explanation; she's already picked up a unicycle. 'You need a helmet first,' Ashley explains, and I tap my daughter's arm and sign, 'Helmet'. 'Does she read lips?' he asks. 'If you could just look at her when you're talking,' I say. 'Okay,' he says with the slightest trepidation. 'She's d-d-deaf and I have a stutter.'

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  • ENVIRONMENT

    The rise of Deaf Pride

    • Frank O'Shea
    • 18 September 2009
    16 Comments

    Those of us with normal hearing feel good if we think technology such as cochlear implants can help deaf people to hear. But Deaf people generally have little interest in 'cures'. They value their identity and see no value in becoming a different person.  

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Not a freakin' travel article

    • Susan Merrell
    • 01 July 2009
    6 Comments

    I try to guard against stereotyping, so on arrival in New York I had not given a thought to the loud, brash New Yorker of legend. Yet, they were all there, en masse. New York is full of ... well ... New Yorkers. And boy, are they loud!

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Matters of life and deaf

    • Gillian Bouras
    • 25 August 2008
    9 Comments

    Imagine the horror of a completely silent world. The deaf person requires strategies: they must make requests, or provide tactful reminders. Lip-reading is a useful skill, but beards and moustaches can provide difficulty.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Film reviews

    • Juliette Hughes, Allan James Thomas, Alex McDermott, Tim Metherall, Morag Fraser
    • 04 July 2006

    Reviews of the films Talk to Her; The Pianist; Ned Kelly; Sur Mes Lèvres; and The Hours.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Writing the bloody things

    • Brian Matthews
    • 14 May 2006

    We met as usual ... and some half hour or so into our conversation I said that while travelling into town I’d had a ‘terrific idea’ for a short story.  

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    What lies beneath

    • Peter Davis
    • 29 April 2006

    Peter Davis looks at the efforts of Sri Lanka to eradicate landmines.

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