Deaf people can do anything, except hear

SHE has been described as “the perfect role model for the hearing impaired community of South Africa”. She is a former pupil of Our Lady of Fatima Convent School, the 2011 Miss Deaf SA winner and late last year she won the title of Miss Ballito. Now the 23-year-old, Shelley Buckle, who lives in uMhlanga is on another mission. She wants to popularise Sign Language and has signed up as the ambassador of Talk Sign Campaign that was launched last week in KwaZulu-Natal.

Shelley spoke to the Northglen News about her journey:

· What’s your background ?
I was born deaf due to a Cytomegalo virus my mother got while she was pregnant with me. I was fitted with one hearing aid and told that my left ear had 0% hearing while my right had about 30% left.

Tell us about your schooling?

My mother chose to send me to a mainstream school, where my main source of communication was lip-reading and speaking. I entered Miss Deaf SA in 2011, where I had the chance to meet other deaf girls around the country. For the first time I was introduced to Sign Language, and I picked it up easily, as it felt like something I should have known my whole life. It was so interesting, and by the end of that week, I had learnt the South African Sign Language (SASL) alphabet! I ended up winning Miss Deaf SA too. I then decided to host free sign language lessons for hearing people to learn, as I feel this is the way to close the gap between the deaf & hearing. Last year I won Miss Ballito, and as a deaf individual, this was a huge accomplishment to both myself and the deaf community.

· Deaf hip-hop dancer Darren Rajbal and the winner of SA’s Got Talent said some people presume that because someone is deaf, they must be lacking in intelligence. Do you find this perception is accurate?

Yes I agree with this. I once had a girl in my class at school think I was ‘retarded’ just because I spoke funny. In the working environment, I’ve had to prove to others that I’m capable of doing the work. They really do think that disabilities equals lack of intelligence.

· What is the importance of the Talk Sign Campaign?

I think it’s important to emphasize the SASL to all hearing people. Deaf people struggle on a daily basis to communicate with hearing people with normal things such as shopping, opening a new cell phone contract etc. If only there were more people proficient in Sign Language, it would really make it easier for communication, and bring the deaf and hearing together as one.

· What are your thoughts on making Sign Language the 12th official language?

Many people say Sign Language is not a language, as it’s only made up using visual gestures. I think this is wrong. It truly is a beautiful and interesting language to learn, and making it the 12th official language only adds more diversity to our country. Just getting an education for a deaf person is such a battle because few teachers can understand Sign Language. I think that everyone has the right to good education, and the more people who get to know sign language, the better. Deaf people can do anything, except hear.

Deaf facts:

• There are 360 million persons in the world with disabling hearing loss. That’s 5.3% of the world’s population – 32 million of these are children.

• Scuba divers often use sign language under water.

• One of the most famous composers of all time was Beethoven who was profoundly deaf when he wrote the 9th symphony.

• Alexander Bell who invented the telephone and was not deaf was originally an instructor for deaf children and invented this device to help his deaf wife and mother.

• Deaf people can sign/talk at great distances without the use of amplification through the use of sign language.