Discussion (Systemic Challenges)

Projects

Inclusion

Disability inclusion is by able-bodied people's standards. For deaf people, it's about assimilating into hearing society in Singapore.

sign language interpreting - Singapore.jpg

Accessibility

Recent years have seen more media publicity of sign language interpreters which are few in Singapore.

Hearing interpreters tend to speak for deaf people and explain deaf people's experiences instead of centring deaf people's own lived experiences. This can be viewed as hearsplaining which is a form of audism.

Deaf people's needs are discussed through accessibility service providers instead of honing in on the deaf person's perspective (e.g. coldplay concert).

Language Rights

More discussion in the media on the official recognition of Singapore Sign Language (SgSL) in 2024.

When discussed in relation to Singapore's English-mother tongue bilingual policy, there are challenges toward the road of SgSL official recognition.

Official recognition doesn't guarantee social acceptance of SgSL. Seen in persistent use of audist terms up till today "deaf and dumb" and "deaf mute". Also, there is a lack of resources for accessibility services to improve in quality.

Charity Model: Lack of Resources in Deaf Education and Training for Teachers of the Deaf

The Singapore Association for the Deaf oversees deaf education until now, despite its previous pleas for the Ministry of Education to take responsibility which has gone unheeded.

The volunteer and compassion mindset has hurt deaf children's outcomes more because deaf education does not have the same resources and trained teachers like mainstream education.

Lack of Resources and Support for Parents of Deaf Children

Deaf children couldn't enroll into "normal" schools in the 1980s and prior to that. Depending on where they live, the two deaf schools are very far which means long commute times and having to wake up early. One of the deaf schools is already full.

Strong medical model and social model framing

Medical model - deafness is treated as a deficit, tragedy or impairment located within the individual that needs to be fixed through medical intervention so that the person can be as "normal" as possible by hearing people's standards.

Social model of disability - Barrier is not deafness itself but in the environment and people's attitudes.