Page 5 - Mainstreamer e-Magazine Volume 1, Issue 3 - August 2023
P. 5
GROUND TO COVER
‘Good pm, ma’am, sorry for the late update community with job applications. She contacted
because we asked the regional office of many different companies, factories, malls, and
the LTO if the deaf can drive... the LTO said, restaurants, but their response was always that it
ma’am, that the deaf are not allowed to is hard to communicate with deaf people and they
drive, ma’am... sorry. For the late update.’ – do not know how to care for equipment. The local
LTO Personnel government unit advised us to request this civil
This was an example of an attitudinal barrier service commission (CSC). If the deaf have passed
in education. FSL is the natural language of the CSC exam, then they will hire them—even in
the Filipino deaf. But even the Department of private and public offices.
Education will not recognise that—even with the There is also a lack of emergency signs and
existence of five laws. That includes using FSL as alarm at malls, cinemas, airports, ports, buses,
the national language of the deaf and the medium offices, and hotels. Haze stayed in hotels for
of instruction, but the Department of Education is meetings, seminars, and events. When she fell
not doing so. They still insist on using Signing Exact asleep and someone knocked on the door, she
English and American Sign Language. could not hear that. She also cannot speak via
telephone. She had to go to the front desk to
Haze’s Experiences With Accessibility inform them about iron equipment and hot
water, get towels, and order food. She felt
When Haze was at the airport terminal, she frustrated because the lack of emergency lights
told the front desk that she is deaf and that they and information communication and technologies
should just call me when it’s time to ride on the systems.
airport bus. They agreed to inform her. Then, there
was an announcement about delayed time and
transferring of places and she did not hear and Lesson Learned
know about it. She noticed that all passengers had Being deaf in a hearing world and succeeding
gone out and changed places, so she went to ask requires a lot of effort. We need to motivate them
the front desk about what happened, and they to make consistent progress. We should make our
wrote her a note. She was frustrated with them communications clear to them since it is critical
because they were not concerned about how for them and us to communicate clearly and
to communicate and failed to inform her about effectively, ensuring that both the deaf and not
communications technologies, systems, and other deaf are on the same page and fully informed.
facilities and services provided to the public. When In this world, everybody should have access
she was boarding the aeroplane, the announcer to information; the deaf have the right to access
instructed all passengers on emergency kits and information like everyone else. Being deaf does
safety— same with port and bus terminals— not make your needs any less important. We
with no interpreter inset or closed captions on must recognise their strengths and show interest
television. in interacting with them using sign language and
Haze went to hospitals, doctors, and veterinary developing technologies and captioning systems
clinics many times. She went there with an for better communication.
interpreter to know what the doctor’s saying rather Lastly, do not let anyone tell you cannot do or
than writing notes. She does not have a job, so her achieve something because you cannot hear. For
budget is insufficient, but she needs a check-up, a deaf person, it takes courage to succeed and
which is vital to living a pain-free life. She paid the commitment to achieve excellence. Every day,
doctor’s and interpreter’s fees, as well as the cost make an honest attempt to do your best.
of the medication. Her total expenses for one day
were PHP 2,700.00 plus. The author actively engaged as an advocate and access
The deaf community, including Haze, needs auditor, besides his work at the local government unit
of San Jose de Buenavista, Antique being a licensed
closed captions at cinemas. In museums, concerts, Environmental Planner in the Province of Antique. He
sports centres, and events, she helped the deaf has great interest in consultancy work, coordinating,
mentoring, as well as computer engineering.
Vol. 01, Issue 3 | August 2023 4
