0:00:31.008,0:00:33.610
I'd like to ask you a question.

0:00:35.280,0:00:37.981
Irish Sign language interpreters are here.

0:00:39.411,0:00:41.181
Who are they here for?

0:00:41.951,0:00:43.399
For me?

0:00:47.099,0:00:49.108
Well yeah, they are here for me.

0:00:50.598,0:00:53.977
But most of all,[br]they are here for all of you

0:00:54.331,0:00:56.900
so you can fit in with my language.

0:00:58.140,0:01:00.067
The ISL interpreters,

0:01:00.667,0:01:01.703
what are they doing?

0:01:01.703,0:01:02.899
I sign,

0:01:02.899,0:01:06.731
and then they voice-over[br]and translate into English for you.

0:01:09.981,0:01:12.000
Let me tell you a story.

0:01:13.980,0:01:15.619
I was born Deaf.

0:01:17.279,0:01:20.911
The doctors identified me as Deaf[br]at six months old.

0:01:23.061,0:01:24.729
My Mom and Dad,

0:01:25.459,0:01:27.556
did they get the support they needed?

0:01:27.566,0:01:29.159
No, they didn't.

0:01:29.819,0:01:31.943
Did they get the information there was

0:01:31.943,0:01:34.004
about the Deaf community[br]and their language

0:01:34.004,0:01:37.504
and their culture[br]and their potential opportunities

0:01:37.504,0:01:38.919
I had for me in the future?

0:01:38.919,0:01:40.319
No, they didn't.

0:01:41.489,0:01:46.567
My life was doomed as a negative[br]from that moment forward.

0:01:48.847,0:01:51.292
I initially went to a hearing play school

0:01:51.302,0:01:52.757
with other children.

0:01:54.197,0:01:57.427
I can remember once sitting in the circle

0:01:57.427,0:01:59.868
with two teachers sitting out front.

0:02:00.628,0:02:04.665
All the children were involved[br]in an activity of singing a rhyme.

0:02:05.265,0:02:07.587
The children sang away.

0:02:08.787,0:02:10.120
What was I doing?

0:02:11.620,0:02:12.965
Nothing.

0:02:13.861,0:02:17.257
I just sat there doing nothing.

0:02:17.257,0:02:18.787
I was lost.

0:02:19.867,0:02:22.012
The children continued singing,

0:02:24.342,0:02:25.573
then they stood up,

0:02:25.573,0:02:27.955
which was part of the actions[br]of the nursery rhyme,

0:02:27.955,0:02:29.884
and they dropped to the floor.

0:02:30.504,0:02:32.153
What was I doing?

0:02:32.493,0:02:34.966
Still sitting there doing nothing.

0:02:34.966,0:02:36.635
Just sitting,

0:02:36.635,0:02:38.036
lost,

0:02:38.036,0:02:39.502
isolated,

0:02:39.932,0:02:41.264
left out.

0:02:43.574,0:02:45.866
I gestured to a little boy[br]who was on the ground,

0:02:45.866,0:02:47.638
"Come. Sit with me."

0:02:49.345,0:02:52.005
He did that. He came and sat beside me.

0:02:52.995,0:02:55.039
That just went to show

0:02:55.039,0:02:58.656
just how I was feeling alone[br]sitting by myself,

0:02:58.656,0:03:02.461
and having him there sit with me[br]made me feel a bit more the same.

0:03:05.031,0:03:08.792
Later, I went to the local state school[br]for hearing children.

0:03:08.792,0:03:10.740
I was there for about a year.

0:03:10.740,0:03:12.497
It really didn't work out.

0:03:14.317,0:03:18.041
My parents had to make[br]the agonising, difficult decision

0:03:18.041,0:03:21.486
to send me to Dublin,[br]to a boarding school for Deaf children.

0:03:23.536,0:03:26.677
I can remember the first day[br]going in there.

0:03:27.417,0:03:29.464
I entered a classroom.

0:03:30.514,0:03:33.383
There was a group of girls[br]sitting in a circle.

0:03:34.233,0:03:38.438
Those girls are still my friends today[br]after all these years.

0:03:38.438,0:03:39.766
One of them

0:03:40.706,0:03:42.293
remembers clearly waving at me

0:03:42.293,0:03:44.846
and gesturing towards me[br]to come join them.

0:03:45.673,0:03:47.417
They were doing colouring.

0:03:48.227,0:03:49.834
I went over.

0:03:50.854,0:03:54.330
They made space for me,[br]pushed two other little pals away.

0:03:54.330,0:03:55.652
I sat in.

0:03:57.102,0:04:01.668
And my friend gestured and signed to me[br]what they were doing.

0:04:02.953,0:04:04.046
So they were colouring.

0:04:04.046,0:04:06.029
And from that moment on,

0:04:06.189,0:04:09.990
I don't remember ever[br]actually learning Irish Sign Language.

0:04:09.990,0:04:11.502
I don't remember how I learned.

0:04:11.532,0:04:13.879
I don't know how I picked it up,

0:04:13.879,0:04:14.909
how I was influenced.

0:04:14.909,0:04:18.165
I don't remember[br]the actual pragmatics of that,

0:04:18.165,0:04:20.058
but I know it was my language,

0:04:20.058,0:04:23.049
and I know the first five years[br]and nine months of my life,

0:04:23.049,0:04:25.352
I was deprived of that language.

0:04:28.072,0:04:29.633
Irish Sign Language,

0:04:29.633,0:04:30.939
what is it?

0:04:31.789,0:04:33.464
It's a language.

0:04:33.894,0:04:37.157
It's the same like[br]your language that you use,

0:04:37.997,0:04:39.613
It's similar to spoken languages -

0:04:39.613,0:04:43.752
French, Spanish, German, English,[br]all the languages that there are.

0:04:44.482,0:04:47.368
And each country[br]has its own sign language.

0:04:47.678,0:04:52.871
Irish Sign Language has[br]its own structure, grammar, syntax

0:04:53.351,0:04:55.847
just like spoken languages do.

0:04:57.467,0:04:58.825
Irish Sign Language

0:04:58.825,0:05:02.983
is their first or preferred language[br]of the Deaf community.

0:05:03.943,0:05:08.069
ISL is 80% based on body language[br]and visual expression.

0:05:08.069,0:05:09.869
It's a visual language.

0:05:11.479,0:05:13.249
I'm not sure if you know

0:05:13.249,0:05:16.851
that ISL is already[br]a recognised language of this country,

0:05:16.851,0:05:21.800
the third language of this country,[br]since December 2017.

0:05:23.340,0:05:26.105
Irish Sign Language is for everyone.

0:05:26.475,0:05:29.009
It's the key to inclusion.

0:05:31.519,0:05:34.765
I want you to imagine this here.

0:05:34.765,0:05:36.612
Imagine if here in Ireland,

0:05:36.612,0:05:39.762
everywhere you went, any part of life,

0:05:39.762,0:05:41.402
everyone could sign.

0:05:42.002,0:05:45.309
Imagine going into the street[br]and bumping into people and signing;

0:05:45.309,0:05:47.218
going into the bank, being able to sign;

0:05:47.218,0:05:49.104
going into shops, being able to sign;

0:05:49.104,0:05:51.758
hearing and Deaf, people all alike[br]being able to sign.

0:05:51.758,0:05:53.167
Can you imagine?

0:05:53.167,0:05:55.767
Can you imagine the world[br]if it was like that -

0:05:55.767,0:05:59.445
in all the other countries[br]where there are sign languages,

0:05:59.445,0:06:02.036
we use sign language everywhere -

0:06:02.036,0:06:04.516
if everybody could communicate[br]through sign language?

0:06:04.516,0:06:05.939
Imagine that.

0:06:08.179,0:06:10.424
Let me tell you another story.

0:06:11.614,0:06:14.903
This just happened to me[br]about three weeks ago.

0:06:16.933,0:06:19.765
I was at a tram stop, waiting.

0:06:20.085,0:06:22.905
I noticed a woman coming towards me,

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and I could see by her body language[br]that she was a bit confused.

0:06:26.702,0:06:29.016
She approached me and spoke to me,

0:06:29.016,0:06:32.163
and I tried to communicate with her,

0:06:32.163,0:06:33.166
but as you know,

0:06:33.166,0:06:37.004
Deaf people can work extremely hard[br]at trying to lip read,

0:06:37.004,0:06:39.844
but 90% of that skill is guesswork.

0:06:42.304,0:06:45.160
So I tried to lip read[br]what she was saying to me,

0:06:45.440,0:06:47.951
and she said something like this:

0:06:48.714,0:06:52.173
"Is this something,[br]something or other stop?

0:06:52.800,0:06:58.138
So, clearly she was asking me[br]if she was at the right stop.

0:06:58.508,0:06:59.606
So i took out my phone.

0:06:59.606,0:07:02.178
I thought, "Okay, I'm going to try[br]and help this lady."

0:07:02.178,0:07:05.433
So I typed out on my phone a message:

0:07:05.433,0:07:07.087
"How can I help you?"

0:07:07.087,0:07:08.805
and I gave her my phone.

0:07:12.145,0:07:13.522
She typed.

0:07:13.802,0:07:14.843
I got excited.

0:07:14.843,0:07:18.948
I thought, "Great! She's going[br]to finally communicate with me."

0:07:19.988,0:07:22.166
So she gave me back my phone,

0:07:22.816,0:07:25.514
but she walked away[br]to speak to someone else,

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and when I looked at my phone -

0:07:27.280,0:07:28.952
do you know what she said?

0:07:30.752,0:07:32.437
"It's okay."

0:07:35.527,0:07:37.146
It's not okay,

0:07:38.086,0:07:39.302
No.

0:07:40.402,0:07:44.290
I felt so humiliated, degraded.

0:07:44.800,0:07:49.838
I felt like a second-class citizen[br]to be treated like that.

0:07:55.198,0:07:58.508
The only time I can remember[br]being treated equal

0:07:58.508,0:08:01.541
happened when I went[br]to Maynooth University.

0:08:02.461,0:08:05.489
I was there studying[br]for a degree for three years.

0:08:05.489,0:08:08.037
Interpreters were provided throughout.

0:08:08.767,0:08:13.662
I was fully included with my class,[br]with the students and lecturers.

0:08:13.662,0:08:15.847
They recognised me. They saw me.

0:08:16.106,0:08:19.582
I also went on three[br]professional work placements,

0:08:19.582,0:08:22.790
and all the colleagues[br]who met me valued me.

0:08:23.948,0:08:28.534
One particular placement,[br]I went as youth worker on a project.

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I had interpreters provided to me[br]for the duration.

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And during that placement,

0:08:33.636,0:08:36.322
It meant that I had to act[br]as a professional

0:08:36.322,0:08:37.910
and carry out my role,

0:08:37.910,0:08:41.060
and I could do that through ISL[br]because I had interpreters with me,

0:08:41.060,0:08:45.214
and I was able to link and build[br]relationships with people through ISL.

0:08:49.603,0:08:50.838
So when I was asked

0:08:50.838,0:08:54.278
to participate in the programme[br]"London's Calling" last may,

0:08:56.038,0:08:58.603
it really opened my eyes

0:08:58.963,0:09:03.387
because in the UK, especially in London,

0:09:03.387,0:09:07.467
they have the Access to Work scheme,[br]that is funded by the Government,

0:09:08.177,0:09:09.742
where they provide funds

0:09:09.742,0:09:14.290
so that Deaf people there can carry out[br]their professions and their jobs,

0:09:14.290,0:09:17.270
can look for job progression, promotion.

0:09:18.450,0:09:20.616
They are Deaf professionals.

0:09:23.096,0:09:27.137
It's not fair that here, Irish Deaf people

0:09:27.767,0:09:31.905
end up forced to move to the UK[br]to achieve their dreams

0:09:31.905,0:09:34.615
because of that Access to Work scheme

0:09:34.615,0:09:39.424
when they could actually do that here[br]if we had the Access to Work scheme here -

0:09:39.424,0:09:40.833
a proper one.

0:09:42.913,0:09:44.530
Can you imagine

0:09:44.890,0:09:46.275
Ireland,

0:09:47.385,0:09:50.562
if we had the Access to Work scheme here,

0:09:51.372,0:09:54.748
it would mean we would be visible,

0:09:55.098,0:10:00.026
we would be your colleagues[br]through Irish Sign Language?

0:10:01.683,0:10:04.961
Just like can you imagine[br]a world, in every country,

0:10:04.961,0:10:08.469
and if they copied that model[br]for the Access to Work scheme,

0:10:08.469,0:10:10.615
it would mean that[br]so many Deaf professionals

0:10:10.615,0:10:12.075
would be seen everywhere

0:10:12.075,0:10:14.778
and able to progress in their work life?

0:10:16.728,0:10:18.543
And that would mean what?

0:10:18.903,0:10:20.370
That young Deaf people

0:10:20.370,0:10:24.179
who already have the motivation[br]and the dreams of things they'd like to do

0:10:24.179,0:10:25.682
ahead in the future,

0:10:25.682,0:10:28.838
that would be there for them,[br]they could achieve that,

0:10:29.448,0:10:31.579
just like I couldn't.

0:10:34.439,0:10:35.905
Inclusion -

0:10:36.825,0:10:39.630
that's everyone's responsibility.

0:10:42.770,0:10:44.380
Inclusion

0:10:45.050,0:10:48.002
is everyone's responsibility.

0:10:51.012,0:10:56.931
Now I'd like to invite you[br]to learn about the Deaf community.

0:10:57.211,0:11:00.333
I have a long list of tips[br]of what you can do,

0:11:00.333,0:11:02.009
but I've just picked three.

0:11:03.889,0:11:07.702
One of them is linked[br]to how to communicate with a Deaf person.

0:11:07.702,0:11:09.544
There's many different ways.

0:11:09.966,0:11:12.355
You could write something down[br]on a piece of paper,

0:11:12.355,0:11:14.186
write back and forth.

0:11:14.896,0:11:17.809
You could use your phone,[br]just like I did at the tram stop,

0:11:17.809,0:11:19.568
and type something out on your phone.

0:11:19.568,0:11:21.527
The technology is there. It's amazing.

0:11:21.527,0:11:22.746
Use it.

0:11:24.586,0:11:27.072
You could try and speak[br]with a Deaf person,

0:11:27.072,0:11:29.815
but please speak normal and clearly.

0:11:29.815,0:11:32.168
Just use normal mouth patterns.

0:11:32.648,0:11:33.712
The Deaf community,

0:11:33.712,0:11:37.383
one of their pet peeves,[br]and my particular one,

0:11:37.993,0:11:41.517
is when hearing people talk like this:

0:11:42.467,0:11:43.829
"Hello ...

0:11:43.829,0:11:46.003
How ... are ... you ...?"

0:11:46.613,0:11:47.963
Really?

0:11:49.353,0:11:53.010
Like, just talk normal and clearly.

0:11:53.010,0:11:54.595
That's all we want.

0:11:55.995,0:11:57.776
Also you could try and make sure,

0:11:57.776,0:11:59.778
as you'ar progressing in the conversation,

0:11:59.778,0:12:01.266
that you are being understood.

0:12:01.282,0:12:03.151
Have that flexibility,

0:12:03.151,0:12:04.971
and problem is solved.

0:12:05.581,0:12:07.484
The second thing is:

0:12:09.514,0:12:12.499
Why don't you go and learn[br]Irish Sign Language?

0:12:12.499,0:12:14.092
There's classes.

0:12:15.562,0:12:18.319
And if you learn and become fluent,

0:12:18.319,0:12:22.756
well hey, you've got a second or third[br]or maybe even fourth language.

0:12:22.756,0:12:24.620
That would be cool, right?

0:12:24.620,0:12:26.243
Then you'll be able to talk to me.

0:12:26.243,0:12:27.384
You could be my friend.

0:12:27.384,0:12:29.165
You could be their friend.

0:12:31.365,0:12:32.729
Thirdly,

0:12:33.179,0:12:35.427
the way you describe Deaf people,

0:12:36.137,0:12:38.767
what's the right terminology to use?

0:12:39.287,0:12:41.483
The most acceptable terms

0:12:41.483,0:12:44.565
are "Deaf" or "Hard of Hearing."

0:12:46.395,0:12:49.014
Don't say "hearing-Impaired"

0:12:49.284,0:12:51.449
or "a hearing difficulty"

0:12:51.449,0:12:53.316
or "hearing disability"

0:12:53.316,0:12:55.146
or "deaf and dumb."

0:12:55.146,0:12:56.506
They are not acceptable.

0:12:56.506,0:12:59.425
It's "Deaf" or "Hard of Hearing."

0:13:04.505,0:13:06.825
I'm going to remind you again.

0:13:07.975,0:13:12.220
Inclusion is everyone's responsibility.

0:13:16.389,0:13:18.587
I am Joanne Chester,

0:13:18.939,0:13:21.090
and I am not just Deaf.

0:13:22.650,0:13:24.025
Thank you.

0:13:24.025,0:13:27.019
(Applause)