 |
Toby
J. Brooks says assistive listening devices in all community facilities are
necessary for hearing impaired people to participate fully in community life.
|
By
Toby J. Brooks
During the days of the ancient Temple, officiating priests had to be of
“unblemished body.” I suggest that we Jews have a large body of tradition to
confront if we are to move to an inclusive community. I look specifically at
hearing impairment as I have been an advocate and activist on the issue for
over 30 years.
Hearing impairment is an invisible disability. The public knows that
people in wheelchairs need accommodations. They see a person with a white cane
and know that the person is visually impaired. But we hearing impaired folks
don’t stand out. That means that we are often an afterthought in making
accommodations.
The hearing impaired include people who are born deaf, those who lost
their hearing after learning to speak, and people like myself, who have hearing
loss. I wear hearing aids and manage fairly well. Without my aids, I live in
the world of the deaf. Please note that my beloved aids do not restore normal
hearing. They help. I manage listening situations by positioning myself to look
at the face of the speaker. If someone throws a remark over her shoulder while
walking away, I miss it. I also have problems in some classrooms, theatres and
auditoriums and will discuss this later.
Historically, Jewish tradition has excused certain groups from mitzvot
(Mishnah in Hagigah 1.1). Those excused are the deaf, mentally confused, women
and minors. Since most who are born deaf have limited speech, the ancients
believed that deaf people could not understand. This is far from the truth.
Being excused from a mitzvah means a deaf person could not count in
making up a minyan, could not lead grace after meals, or act as a witness in
legal proceedings (Tosefta Shevuot 3:6). Today, we strive for inclusion of
everyone. For that reason, the exclusion of the mentally confused and women
deserve their own platform. Space does not allow that important discussion in
this article. There seems to be a crossover in traditional thinking between the
deaf and the mentally confused.
In the 19th century, serious education was developed for the deaf, which
led traditionalists to realize the deaf do indeed have understanding. As with
most changes in law, equal standing for the deaf was not immediately achieved.
Bit by bit things improved. On May 24, 2011, the Committee on Jewish Law and
Standards, which speaks for the Rabbinical Assembly of the Conservative
movement, ruled “the deaf are of the same ability as those without
disabilities... The categorization of the deaf as mentally incapacitated is to
be revoked, and they are to be considered completely lucid.”
My own campaign to get assistive listening devices (ALD) into
classrooms, theatres and auditoriums has been full of starts and stops. Because
the systems cost money, they are sometimes seen as a frill. In fact, their cost
is well under the cost of most other interior improvements, such as elevators.
An example of starts and stops is the City of Ottawa. After advocacy by the
Canadian Hard of Hearing Association, an ALD was installed at City Hall. So far
so good – but I recently attended a program at the city building in
Centrepointe. Staff had arranged for the ALD but it did not work with the
microphone used by the speakers. I got very little from the program. Sometimes
organizations will get a system but not keep it in repair. My own shul, Adath
Shalom, although small, has an ALD and is conscientious about its working
condition. I am happy that Soloway Jewish Community Centre has a system that
works in the large social hall. However, sessions in the smaller rooms are not
equipped for hearing accessibility.
No comments:
Post a Comment