does any Deaf people feel to be inclusion in their hearing family or not?
A person was talking to me this morning and he was dreading up by having his large family together at his home on the Christmas Day. I asked him what was the problem he facing and his replied was a simple answer. I told him “look, I have been there for many years” with my hearing family for I am deaf myself. Whether like it or not!
I explained to him that he was not the only one who have problem facing with family or friends during a Christmas Day. Many Deaf and Hard of Hearing people often feel left out with their own family over meals or a day on the Christmas Day. Often it is the only Deaf person or a Deaf couple in the large hearing family, missed out the conversation during the meal times or chatting with other family members. Here is a video from BBC – See Hear. There is approximately 90% of Deaf/Hard of Hearing person born in the hearing family around the world. (This number was from See Hear).
What do John, Natalie and Kim all have in common? Christmas for them should be a time of happiness – instead it’s become a day that they dread – and there’s a term for it: Dinner Table Syndrome.
There are many Deaf families who have Deaf grandparents and they do not have any problems communicating over the table or to enjoying the day on a Christmas Day. They communicate through sign language with their family members. Yes there are few number of hearing family member who can communicate sign language if they have a Deaf member but often keen to forget to communicate with a Deaf brother or sister.
The person I was talking to, he realised that he was not the only one, it is everyone especially homeless people who do not have someone as a mate, buddy person, or many elderly people who have no family at all.
After all, we have many places where homeless people can come in and have a meal on a Christmas Day like at the Auckland City MIssion , The Serve Trust in Hamilton. In the Rest Home staff make sure that everyone are including to have a meal in one whole room. This is where I am involving to make sure that everyone who have disabilities and no family, I support, to go there and get together with other people on a Christmas Day.
He asked me what do I spend my time on a Christmas Day – my replied was simple “our home always open to everyone in my extended family to come here and have a bbq, to play sports such as cricket or to play ‘toy cars’ in our large property where we have three dogs.” Not everyone in my extended family are not use to our three large dogs or being far away from their home to here. They have got their children to spend with grandparents somewhere else and their own lives. If no one come here, we simply go over to see any of extended family on a Boxing Day or another day so we can rest and enjoy our times with our dogs on a Christmas Day. We have been over to their houses thousand times in the past, why not here for a change?” He replied was “Oh, that is life.”
