Audism - a textile sculpture box
I have been researching audism and how it has affected the Deaf community for many years. I used my arts practice to inform of the issue and to bring awareness to the communities. Many people don't realise they are doing it to Deaf people. Audism comes in forms including:
* not signing in the presence of Deaf individuals when one knows sign;
* negative expectations or views of those who cannot speak with their voices; ignoring or not providing reasonable accommodations for Deaf or hard of hearing people;
* inappropriate, negative, or lower expectations of success held by some educators, administrators, audiologists or speech therapists, interpreters, corporate/business employees, or others in professional positions toward Deaf or hard of hearing people;
* viewing hearing people and hearing culture as superior to Deaf or hard of hearing people and Deaf culture;
* not allowing Deaf people’s input or their rise to positions of authority;
* parents of Deaf children who insist on forcing their child to conform only to the hearing culture at the expense of or instead of their unique sense of belonging to Deaf culture because the parent sees the child as limited by a non-verbal, non-hearing minority.
The box is representative of a time in my life when I was 4 years old, and having audiology sessions at a clinic. The audiology room had a big box with a puppet and light in it and when a noise was made, the light would come on. It was expected that we would hear the sound, but we would then see the light come on. There was a touch of audism in this that we were expected to hear but they did consider the light when making the box so if we didn't hear, we would see the light come on, again a bit of an oddity. I don't know if it helped me much with learning to hear but it was a fun conception and I would play with the box after sessions. The puppet inside the box is an audist, hiding in there, trying to make a noise, expecting a Deaf person to hear, and covering its mouth (the rainbow ribbon). The hat represents the crazy puppet in the clinic's audiology's box. The red sewn on ear inside a square is the sign language sign for Audism. The sheer fabric provides a glimpse into the box when one might turn to see the light come on.
* not signing in the presence of Deaf individuals when one knows sign;
* negative expectations or views of those who cannot speak with their voices; ignoring or not providing reasonable accommodations for Deaf or hard of hearing people;
* inappropriate, negative, or lower expectations of success held by some educators, administrators, audiologists or speech therapists, interpreters, corporate/business employees, or others in professional positions toward Deaf or hard of hearing people;
* viewing hearing people and hearing culture as superior to Deaf or hard of hearing people and Deaf culture;
* not allowing Deaf people’s input or their rise to positions of authority;
* parents of Deaf children who insist on forcing their child to conform only to the hearing culture at the expense of or instead of their unique sense of belonging to Deaf culture because the parent sees the child as limited by a non-verbal, non-hearing minority.
The box is representative of a time in my life when I was 4 years old, and having audiology sessions at a clinic. The audiology room had a big box with a puppet and light in it and when a noise was made, the light would come on. It was expected that we would hear the sound, but we would then see the light come on. There was a touch of audism in this that we were expected to hear but they did consider the light when making the box so if we didn't hear, we would see the light come on, again a bit of an oddity. I don't know if it helped me much with learning to hear but it was a fun conception and I would play with the box after sessions. The puppet inside the box is an audist, hiding in there, trying to make a noise, expecting a Deaf person to hear, and covering its mouth (the rainbow ribbon). The hat represents the crazy puppet in the clinic's audiology's box. The red sewn on ear inside a square is the sign language sign for Audism. The sheer fabric provides a glimpse into the box when one might turn to see the light come on.