Waikato Deaf Society Inc History

I (the historian – Jean) took Jacek to meet his old Deaf friends from Kelston and Titirangi Schools for the Deaf at lunchtime today (7th August 2024). We met John K. of Hamilton, who moved here from Sydney several years ago, at the cafe.

I learnt more from the Deaf seniors of Auckland and the conversation about the Deaf Olympic Games in LA, USA, in 1965. I forgot his name, and he was sitting in front of me at the table. He told me about the trips to the USA several times and asked me about one state if I had been there. My reply was no, only New York, California, and Canada many times, but not now because I stopped travelling in 2009 because the costs were too expensive, completed my University degree with a BA in Arts, and my health issues developed over the years.

I double-checked with John K. for the chap’s name, Norman, through video chat late afternoon. Norman was telling me about the discovery of sign language (ASL—American Sign Language) in the USA in the 1960s, and he had no idea about sign language here in New Zealand. Norman found that sign language helped him through daily life more quickly than speaking/pen and paper conversation, which made life more difficult for him and his Deaf wife. Norman told me that he blamed the Government and the schools for not allowing the use of sign language here in the early days. Norman highlighted why many D/deaf children were not allowed to communicate in sign language here in the old days. However, they did not release the Education Policy, which stated that all schools were not permitted to teach sign language in the classroom; it should be oral.

With Jacek, one of his friends was chatting with me via sign language, and she was reminiscing about the old times in the dinner hall. She told us that Jacek had to use the unique handles of the knife, fork, and spoon because something was wrong with his wrist and hand. I asked this person if she knew about CP (Cerebral Palsy) or not. She realised twice after repeating CP. Was Jacek born like this? My reply was yes, as it was a simple answer. Her comment made me realise that in the old days at their Deaf schools, the teachers of the Deaf children never explained Jacek’s disabilities – CP, speech impaired and, of course, Deaf to the other children and buddy pairs.

Another Deaf lady, Lesley, was there. I wondered if Lesley was the same person who went to Hamilton Deaf School and Waikato Deaf Society Inc. The answer was yes, and she was the person I hoped to catch up with for the interview in two separate projects later on.

At the end of the afternoon at 2 pm, the Auckland Deaf seniors headed back to Te Huia train to Auckland. It was a pleasure catching up with the Auckland Deaf Seniors for Jacek, John, and me. Jacek told me he was pleased to see Allan and the Deaf lady after all the years because they looked after Jacek during his boarding school.

The Deaf people live in a tight-knit society because of their past schools and Deaf Society Inc.