Celebrating 15 years of deaf studies

Members of the deaf community and prominent academics were invited to honour the centre’s progress and achievements made over the years.

Guests attending the function heard from the speakers on the milestone advancements made by the centre.

The centre for deaf studies caters to the needs of educators of the deaf and thus, by extension, provides outreach to pupils who are hearing impaired, with the overall goal of providing greater equality for deaf people in the South African society.

Vice-chancellor Adam Habib shared a lesser known and personal story of how his two younger siblings were hearing impaired at a time when society could not cater to their needs.

“My younger brothers could not go to normal school, and had to attend a racialised deaf school. There were only two in the country, we lived in Pietermaritzburg, so they had to leave home by themselves at the age of six to attend school in Durban,” he said.

Habib recalled how his brothers could not go on with university because educational institutions had no capacity to respond to their disability.

“If you truly want to be world class, you have to be nationally responsive, that is to respond to the needs of the most marginalised and there is no group more marginalised than those who have a disability in this country.”

He emphasised that the work of the centre creates hope, and ensures that a new generation of deaf pupils will not have their futures forsaken; they have an opportunity to be equal citizens.

Professor Claudine Stoerbeck, the director of the centre, single-handedly spearheaded this initiative 15 years ago with no support staff.

“I called Wits one day and said, do you have an office for me? I will pay my own way,” said Stoerbeck.

The centre has expanded tremendously over the years and is actively involved in teaching, research, sign language instruction and has a community outreach programme called Hi Hopes, which focuses on the early intervention of young children with hearing loss.