Cambridgeshire actress calls for better measures to tackle deafness stigma
Nadia Nadarajah has been deaf for almost 47 years
An actress from Cambridgeshire believes more must be done to help shift attitudes towards deaf people.
Figures from the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) found more than two thirds of deaf communities have experienced negative attitudes from the public in the last year.
While almost half of deaf people surveyed have experienced this from their own family members.
"There's a lot of sympathy attached"
Nadia Nadarajah grew up in Luton before moving to the county, is profoundly deaf and has been living with deafness for almost 47 years.
"My parents were used to having all five senses, but when you lose your hearing which people rely on an awful lot, my parents thought 'oh my goodness, what will she do if she can't hear anything?'," she said.
"I think back then, the philosophy was different and they struggled to take that on board.
"Usually when people find out that they're deaf, there's a lot of sympathy attached and there's is 'oh I'm sorry' because you can't hear, but actually, my life's alright."
Social exclusion
The RNID also found in the last 12 months, 47% of survey participants with hearing loss said members of the public have shouted or talked loudly at them, while 50% report people being impatient with them.
And more than half of people regularly reported being excluded from conversations.
Nadia recalls an example where deaf people can feel isolated.
"You're sat around a dinner table - if you're hearing and you can't sign, you're chatting away, the deaf person's sat there trying to eat and lipread a number of different conversations and not really understanding what's been said," Nadia added.
"Suddenly the table erupts into laughter, you don't know why because a lot of people don't realise the impact of that social exclusion.
"A lot of doctors will say 'your child is deaf' and they might not suggest learning sign language, or parents might not know how to approach deaf adults or where can I find deaf adults to learn sign language.
"They're left with this deaf child without information on what to do or who to turn to."
Improving the situation
When in public settings such as a café, Nadia tends to write notes on her phone to show a member of staff and feels more people are beginning to become more aware of sign language.
But she feels education is vital.
"Of course there are people who are isolated because they might not have information about where to turn and I think that's a big step we need to promote," she added.
"Some people say 'you don't look deaf' and I think 'what does that mean?' I think better education from a school age, having people accept that actually, deafness means you just can't hear and you might use a different language or speak differently.
"I think acceptance is the key."
In April 2022, a new law was introduced to legally recognise British Sign Language (BSL) as a language in England, Scotland and Wales while requiring the government to report on the use of BSL by ministerial departments in its public communications.
The Department for Education has previously said it provides funding for British Sign Language qualifications and local authorities will already provide sign language lessons for parents of deaf children.