Struggles Of The Blind-Deaf Community

 

IT is never at all easy to have one’s life completely changed after a permanent handicapped.   

Yam Tong Woo, who hails from Sungei Buloh, Selangor, is all too familiar with such an experience.

The 58-year old became blind on both eyes about four years ago as a result of a severe bacterial infection.

“Looking back I considered myself fortunate that I was able to tap on my inner strength and coupled with family support and love, I managed to accept my sudden loss of sight,” he recalled in an interview with Wheel Power last week.

“My life-changing experience however all-in-all had a positive impact in me rather than a negative one,” he added.

“It widened my scope of vision in being able to see the good, bad and the ugly sides of life.”  

His new life, Yam went on to explain, led him to make many new friends who included people in wheelchairs, other blind folk and particularly to a much lesser known group known as the deaf-blind.         

The popular blind activist got to first meet deaf-blind people on the Internet.  This was after Yam re-learnt to use the computer with a special programme for blind users called a screen reader.

He created a chat room for the blind community to come together to share their experiences.

Yam said his encounter with the deaf-blind who had a double disability was truly eye opening.  

Choo Kim Yoon is on such friend of Yam.

Currently 44-years of age, he was only three years old when he became totally blind after developing a high fever. Then at 16, he began losing his hearing as well.

The doctors didn’t know what was causing Choo’s hearing loss and put it down as an “unknown illness.”

But the teenager as a blind student didn’t allow his handicaps to stop him and went on to complete his Form 6 education and later obtain a certificate in stenography. Choo currently works part time at the Malaysian Association for the Blind in Kuala Lumpur.

According to Yam, Choo says living with more than one disability can be “really tough and challenging”.

Not being able to see and hear properly makes communication with other people a major problem.

“People are not always willing to talk with you once they discover that you have a hearing problem on top of your blindness,” adds Choo.

“They don't always have the patience to repeat things to you. Instead they often raise their voices or shout at you. This is usually a sure conversation-killer for most of deaf-blind persons”.

Choo points out that such attitude are reasons why the deaf-blind community get shut out of society.

However, there is so much more that the public can do to help the deaf-blind community, he points out.

One such way is learning how to communicate through “finger-brailling”.

It follows the principle of the Braille machine. A person does so communicating with a deaf-blind person by touching their fingers and vice versa.  

Choo has a friend who communicates with him in this way. His chum will often help him to buy lunch as well as get him a fresh set of batteries for his hearing aid whenever it runs dry.

Both Choo and Yam strongly feel that nongovernmental organisations serving the blind as well as the government should work hand in hand to bring more awareness amongst the public about the specific needs of the deaf-blind community.

“They should make it a point to invite us to their functions so that more people can see us and realise that people like us also exist,” says Choo.

“No one should avoid the deaf-blind community because we too want to actively participate in society as well as contributing in our own way in any way that can help us enhance our quality of life,” he adds.

Choo and Yam feel that the best way forward to break the communication barrier for deaf-blind persons is for everyone to work together in implementing a standard sign language that is acceptable and accessible for both parties.

“One of the best method is to use something called the “Lorm tactile sign language” that caters for the blind-deaf as well,” says Choo.

According to Choo and Yam, it is widely used in developed countries and has recently been converted into computerized format.

“The government should provide financial assistance to the deaf-blind individuals who need to purchase such high-tech communication device,” says Yam.

“At the same time, the govt must supply high quality hearing aids to deaf-blind individuals and not merely the low-cost ones.

“In addition, computer access to the deaf-blind community is also a must. In order for this to happen, the Government must supply subsidised or free braille display devices for deaf-blind Malaysians that will enable them to venture into internet businesses or become creative freelance writers for example.”

In short, Choo and Yam strongly feel the deaf-blind Malaysians should not be excluded from the technological advances in the country that is constantly fast developing.

THE END

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