Earlier this month, Institute Director Professor Jackie Leach Scully took part in a discussion of Deaf culture for the Sydney Opera House's Antidote Festival. The line-up for the panel also included Fiona Murphy, poet and author of the memoir The Shape of Sound, and Alex Jones, entrepreneur and Deaf activist now working with the Disability Royal Commission.
Jackie reported that 'It was fascinating to learn about the similarities and differences in our stories: all of us experienced deafness from an early age but while mine was due to illness, Fiona gradually lost her hearing over a number of years; Alex was unlike either of us in growing up in three generations of a signing Deaf family. Despite these differences we share many of the pleasures of Deaf identity as well as the frustrations of living in a predominantly hearing world.'
Recordings of all the Antidote sessions, including this one, are available for rent on the Festival website. All are available in an accessible stream with captioning and Auslan interpretation.
