Thank you.

Yes, most of my interviewees were glad to meet me and hear that there are others like them from a similar background.

Thank you Deepak for sharing. It is also interesting to learn how different cultures influence the perceptions and attitude towards people with disabilities, especially women. And it is nice to hear other women experiencing a similar path as myself, trying to navigate through society, culture and our own barriers in order to try and create awareness and tolerance

Dear Katherine,

Thanks for your input!

To clarify, most of the women identified by their hearing loss first, but a few did put their religion first. Being a Muslim was in the top 2. But yes religion does play a huge part in their identities and upbringing.

Yes doing a comparison of different faiths and deafness is interesting research for future!!

Hi Katherine,
at a conference I recently attended (16th International Conference on Minority Languages) one of the keynote speakers, Dr Robert Adam, UCL, spoke about the religious divide in Australian sign languages: for a long time Auslan was a Protestant language while Catholics used Australian Irish Sign Language. Sadly, the latter is now severely endangered …
Ingrid

Thanks so much Rose. Yes women share similar experiences and we should use our challenges as fuel for a positive life.
I love your last sentence, yes women may be seen but their unheard stories make them silent and invisible. We all should find a way to express ourselves and make ourselves heard. I hope you find a passion or outlet that lets you be you.

Dear Sadami,

Thank you!

The artwork are beautiful!!

Hi Tricia,

Thank you for your kind words!

Good question! I did not research about varieties of Auslan specifically, but based on what I know, there are some different varieties between different groups. Just like how people from different backgrounds sometimes add words from their language into their English, Auslan is similar. It was not even until a few years ago, when I was meeting a group of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Muslims and even sign language interpreters, where I learnt the (Auslan) signs for “Prophet”, “Allah” and other Arabic words and expressions like “Alhumdillah” (All praise be to God”.

Another example I can give you, is that during our recent Ramadan Project, I actually signed ‘Ramadan’ wrong and a few people who are fluent in Auslan, from a Muslim background, actually complained. The sign was meant to start with my hand on my other cheek. I corrected the sign when other people sent in their videos, but I personally saw no difference. I am actually not fluent in Auslan, so I am not sure of who ‘originated’ the sign for Ramadan and how it became the ‘right’ one. But it is interesting how, in our case, incorporating Arabic words or even Islamic ones are being created and shared by Auslan users themselves.

So, when it comes to incorporating different languages or words into Auslan, I am sure each group has it’s own varieties to reflect their cultural background. Very interesting topic indeed.

It is also important to note that Australians may borrow certain words from another sign language from another country, but essentially our main language is Auslan, with different signs to reflect the cultural background. If you ask me if I can understand Lebanese sign language I probably wouldn’t!

Ayah

One curiosity I have about your research–Could there be varieties of Auslan based on the ethnic background of the language users? I wonder, for instance, if Australia-born Filipinos with hearing impairment sign in the exact same way that you do. What about Australia-born Chinese? It would be interesting to find this out. 🙂