Invisible disability..

Gathering in the Aio Wira Courtyard

Aio Wira held another community dinner on Sunday 11 October to raise funds for the training of deaf interpreters to complement the work of hearing signers. There are some situations which require deaf people who understand deaf culture to interpret for hearing people who, while skilled in NZ sign language, cannot always fully understand the nuances of deaf culture.

As yet there is no established course for deaf people to learn the skills required for this. And we were reminded that deafness is “the invisible disability”.

As well as enjoying meeting a group of deaf people and hearing about their concerns, we were taught basic greetings and how to spell our own names in NZ Sign Language – which is, of course, the third official language of Aotearoa/NZ.

If you are interested, have a look at: www.nzsign.co.nz