In my international work, I have regularly met with Ruth Warick, General Secretary of the International Federation of Hard of Hearing People (www.ifhoh.org) and disability advisor at the University of British Columbia. On the eve of the upcoming international Congress for hard of hearing people (A Global Community of Communications) that will take place in Vancouver on July 2-7 this year, I wanted to better understand hearing loss and hard of hearing identity in Canada in my conversation with Ruth.
Karina: You had a chance to travel extensively through the world. From your observations, how strong is the Deaf culture in Canada compared, for example, to the US or Great Britain?
Ruth: Deaf culture is very strong in Canada, as it is in the United States. I am not familiar with Great Britain and, of course, the best experts about deaf culture are Deaf persons themselves.
Karina: Is there a difference in relating to hearing loss in Canada and the US, two neighbouring countries? If so, what is this difference?
Ruth: Hearing loss is similar in many industrialized countries in terms of its impact, both on functional ability to participate and communicate and to be a member of society, and on the implications for one's identity. There are also similarities in terms of technological, health, and education supports.
Of course, each person is an individual, so personal differences must be considered along with gender, social class, racial background, and other factors. There are also differences related to culture from one's environment and family background.
Nonetheless, I believe that there is a concept of a hearing loss called habitus. This term, developed by the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, means "a way of being." Bourdieu uses this concept in relation to social class and believes that responses to the world can be shaped by social class. Through my studies of the experiences of hard of hearing students in universities, I came away with the sense that hearing loss is akin to habitus because of its pervasive impact, even if it is not the only force in students' lives. Students choose classes based on how well they would hear the professors and other students; their interactions with other students were affected by their hearing loss, and career choices were also impacted.
Karina: When we talk about definitions "hearing-impaired", "deaf", "Deaf", "hard of hearing", which definitions are used most often in Canada?
Ruth: Both national associations for the deaf and hard of hearing in Canada prefer the terms "Deaf and Hard of Hearing" to the rather ambiguous term "hearing impaired," which means that the person has a hearing loss but it is not clear whether the person is Deaf or Hard of Hearing. Members of the general public, however, often don't understand these distinctions and part of our job is to educate them in this regard.
Karina: Are hard of hearing people in Canada more self-aware or active than in other countries, or are they also slightly invisible? If the latter is true, why?
Ruth: There are many active, hard of hearing persons in Canada. The Canadian Hard of Hearing Association stretches from one end of the country to the other with chapters and branches through the country and thousands of members. Yet, there are still thousands of people who are not members for a host of reasons.
Hearing loss is an invisible loss to most persons, especially if the person lost their hearing later in life after being socialized as a hearing person. Their whole world is the hearing and so becoming part of the hard of hearing community is an entirely different cultural experience for them. The identity construction of hearing loss incorporates elements of visibility and invisibility within it. We hard of hearing persons have dual identities.
Karina: Is there a system of state benefits for hard of hearing people in Canada? How does it work and what are the similarities to that found in the US?
Ruth: The system of state benefits for hard of hearing persons really varies in Canada because responsibilities are split between different levels of government. All healthcare is administered provincially and territorially and there are some broad guidelines. As a result, the provision of health services, hearing aids and cochlear implants varies from province to province to territory of which there are 13 entities in Canada. Similarly, education is provincially administered so even where there are federal programs, these are cost-shared with the provinces and so regional variations exist.
The United States also has a framework that sees differences at the national level and then at the state level and there are 50 states so I believe that there are also many differences depending on where one lives in a given country.
What is the same for both Canada and the United States is that each has strong national statements about the rights of persons with disabilities and strong human rights legislation. In principle, each person with a disability is entitled to a life of dignity and access to all that society has to offer. In reality, there are disparities in achieving this dream since the unemployment and poverty rates are higher for persons with disabilities than for the general population and this is true for persons with hearing loss.
Karina: What was your reason for joining the hard of hearing community? How long have you been there?
Ruth: I became involved in my early 20s since I was always interested in the experiences and stories of persons with a hearing loss and I was instilled with a sense of personal and social justice from my family background and my own experiences. Although I went to regular schools, I did not receive my first hearing aid until I was 12 years old and did not develop my speech until adulthood. I once had a university professor tell me that he thought I was mentally retarded when I told him that I was hard of hearing.
Karina: You work as a senior advisor on disability, access, and diversity at the University of British Columbia. Are there many hard of hearing students at the University and are they provided special consideration for admission to the University?
Ruth: Yes, I am a disability advisor and promote disability-related accommodations and access for students with all types of disabilities including students who are hard of hearing and deaf. The number of such students who have declared themselves to our office is probably around 50 persons.
Our office works closely with UBC's Admissions office and we recommend special consideration for admissions for students who can demonstrate that their academic record does not portray their true capability. For example, if a student did not have any disability-related accommodations, their grades may have been affected. If, following the receipt of disability-related accommodations such as note taking, their grades went up substantially, we would be able to point to the improved record as evidence of the person's true academic ability. This could then be taken into account by the admitting faculty.
Karina: What is the attitude of hard of hearing and deaf people toward cochlear implants in Canada now? Is seems that in some countries (e.g. France), more deaf young people are being implanted with CIs which makes them more "hard of hearing" than "d/Deaf". Is it the case in Canada, too?
Ruth: I think that CI use is increasing around the world as research has demonstrated its success provided that the appropriate candidates are given the procedure. Increasingly, we are seeing youth who define themselves as deaf/hard of hearing depending on the situation and circumstances and easily move between such definitions. We have some students who use captioning, sign interpreting, or oral interpreting - whatever works best for them in a given situation.
Karina: Canada will be a place of the International Federation of the Hard of Hearing People's World Congress devoted to Communication. What explains the choice of the place and of the theme for the Congress?
Ruth: IFHOH is an international organization, so it is natural that it would look outside of Europe for hosting a Congress. The last one was in Finland in 2004 and prior to then, in Australia in 2000. Canada is delighted to be hosting the Congress in 2008 and Vancouver promises to be a beautiful locale for the Congress. We are very excited about it.
Our theme, A Global Community of Communications, was chosen to reflect two critical points: one being that we are a global community of persons, and the other to reflect that communications is the critical issue for hard of hearing persons. The most debilitating effect of a hearing loss is the inability to communicate as a result of not hearing, not understanding, and not being able to fully participate. More information is available on the Congress website of www.chha-ifhohcongress2008.com . Note that February 28, 2008 is the deadline for the early bird registration.
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