WATCHING a deaf person communicate is like standing in front of a work of art, beautiful in its practice and passed on through the years.
Yet thousands of Cypriots who are deaf or hearing-impaired are trapped in our modern society, unable to communicate beyond the narrow circle of people who understand sign language. The result is effective discrimination and prejudice against people who do not regard themselves as being disabled.
Yiannis Yiannakides, President of the Pancyprian Organisation for the Deaf (POAK), believes that, in general, life in Cyprus is not too hard for the hearing impaired, but when faced with a serious situation, trying to communicate only causes pain and frustration.
“Deaf people don’t have any problems going to the bank or CyTA. It’s at the ministries that the problems begin: for example, if a deaf person is interested in finding a job, how do they start? They have to find an interpreter. There’s also a lot of prejudice.
“So the bank and the bills are not the problem, all the deaf people do it. But the issues that are serious is when we need to go to an official, as they do not know how to use the interpreter.”
And it’s people’s attitudes that are the greatest problem, says Stavroula Theofanous, a member of POAK. She feels insulted at the way people suddenly change their attitude when they realise she is deaf. “Generally, people pull back from you when they realise you are deaf. The government is supposed to pursue equality when someone presents themselves.”
The deaf community feel the government is effectively cheating them out of a chance to join in with society, treating them like a segregated minority, who have to work around their daily problems, trying to communicate to people who have a lack of awareness of their community and the use of sign language.
Many European countries have addressed these issues and have made provisions within the emergency services and the education system. Moreover, there are more interpreters available in EU countries, while in Cyprus their number is limited. Elsewhere, government agencies are obliged to provide an interpreter when one is needed, but not in Cyprus.
“The government needs to acknowledge sign language,” said Yiannakides. “Recognition of sign language is important, it will help in the perception of the deaf and if it were recognised there would be more motivation among people to learn.”
Kyproulla Magrea, special needs inspector at the Education Ministry, explained the problem: “Those with impaired hearing in Cyprus had to learn to communicate orally, and made up their own sign language, resulting in there being different forms of the language. But to make sign language official, there must be one main, commonly-used form.”
She said that with one universal sign language, ministries could then begin to help the deaf with issues such as employment, as a recognised language could be taught to employers.
According to Christos Angelides, officer for special needs at the Ministry of Labour, “employment is a not a problem for people who are deaf. It is their education that is a problem. When pupils graduate from special schools for the deaf, their qualifications are not equivalent to secondary education.”
“The government regard the deaf as having a severe disability,” he added.
Magrea said this categorisation was unhelpful: “The deaf do not regard themselves as having a disability.” She added: “It’s an excuse, it’s prejudice. A lot of people who are deaf are in mainstream schools; the prejudice lies with the employer not with the qualifications.”
Parliament has helped to provide sign language on television, but some television stations have proved reluctant to co-operate. Three stations now have sign language on the news. But two channels have sign language news on at the same time at 5pm and on CyBC it starts at 6pm. “We would like to have something on closer to 8pm, not when people come home from work,” said Yiannakides.
“They also need to enlarge the interpreter on the screen. We have been writing and asking to make the box bigger, but we get no reply. They tell us ‘we will, we will’, but the deaf are going blind trying to see the tiny interpreter. For five years it’s been like this.”
Ten years ago, Cyprus started to work on helping the deaf. One problem that still needs to be addressed is that the deaf community needs a Secretary that can act on their behalf, who can be a source of information and assistance when faced with a problem involving the ministry.
Angelides noted that the Ministry of Labour had produced a scheme to help the deaf community, which involves the payment of £2,000 to any employer hiring a deaf person, and providing financial support to supply sign language in the workplace and providing the equipment needed to aid the hearing impaired.
Yiannakides is hopeful the government will learn to improve in time, thought there is still a long way to go. “ I’ve got a lot more I’d like to say. We could go on all day, all the way from A to Z…”
THE WIND that once swept inside my rickety old car had finally disappeared. Gone was that headache after shouting to speak above the thumping noise of my music blared out just for show, and the joy of escaping those daily blood curdling insults, screamed out by motorists when you’re driving below the speed limit. Driving is a bore when you can’t hear, just one of the many daily tasks we take for granted.
I set out on a mission to experience life as a deaf person, to get an inkling of some of the problems encountered by the hearing impaired. Strangely, my first thought about the prospect of becoming deaf was not how was I going to communicate with people – I am accustomed to the effort of trying to be understood as my Greek is limited – rather, I wondered, would I be allowed to drive? I dreaded the thought of losing my car, my means of escape around the island, but then I learned that deaf people were allowed to drive. Panic over, or so I thought…
I inserted earplugs into my ears, designed to expand inside the ear to block out maximum sound, but I could still hear a faint humming, although actually that was coming from me. The ringing in my ears reminded me of those late nights and early morning starts, when a symphony of pain played over and over until I could manage a cup of coffee and slice of toast. Bu this time, instead of it fading during the day, it got louder by the hour.
The effort with lip reading began to get on my nerves as I attempted to communicate with the people I had on my ‘things to do’ list (I was always bad at it anyway). Fortunately, I found comfort in expressing what I wanted to say with hand gestures, as trying to speak took time and concentration. I quickly learned that it was far easier to gesture than to try to speak. My notepad and pen was a big help as I ran out of ways to create words with my hands.
When I withdrew money from my bank, the teller did not even try to attempt to speak to me – instead I felt his suspicious eyes made me feel like an illegal immigrant as he scanned my ID card over and over.
The pharmacist was nice, except he did not have a clue how to communicate with me; he forgot I was trying to read his lips and looked towards the floor, with a slightly embarrassed expression as I twisted my face to try and see what he was saying.
My patience started to wane as the day progressed, what at first I thought would be an interesting experience was becoming increasingly frustrating. Long before the deadline I had set myself to unplug my ears I began to itch to pull out the plugs.
Going about my daily life was not excessively hard: I could drive, go shopping and pay bills. But life as a deaf person made me feel lonely. I felt that by gesturing I had created my own form of language that unf
ortunately only I could understand.
