Members of Wagga's deaf and hard-of-hearing community who already face challenges in their day-to-day communication say it has been difficult to keep up with information about the coronavirus pandemic.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A Riverina hearing advocacy service is calling for improved close captioning of live broadcasts, as well as more simple messaging of public health advice.
Nurse Anna-Maree Bloomfield, who is profoundly deaf and works as a mentor at the Wagga Hearing Support Centre, said the majority of people in her communities could not use Auslan.
"It's fantastic, by all means ... For people who use Auslan every day, it's great for them. But for many deaf or hard-of-hearing people, they may not be fluent in Auslan, especially in the regional areas," Ms Bloomfield said.
She said there was not one certified Auslan interpreter in Wagga.
Ms Bloomfield is fluent in everyday signs but, as a person who is profoundly deaf and has worn hearing aids for most of her life, she uses speech to communicate and relies in part on lipreading.
It can be difficult, she said, to read the lips of someone speaking from behind a microphone during a live broadcast, which are usually posted on social media with no closed captioning.
"Anything that's happening now, whenever NSW Health makes an announcement, there are no captions on the live version," Ms Bloomfield said.
Ms Bloomfield said closed captioning on online videos would benefit deaf and hard-of-hearing people of all ages.
"If you rely on sign language [or] if you rely on lipreading, you can look at the captions to get a clue of where you're up to. What's happening is that's not there," she said.
The hearing support centre's Karen Perry, who began her advocacy work after a bout of meningitis left her deaf and blind in one eye, suggested an emergency app that gave "clear, bullet point information".
"It would be really good if that was available, because of course you've got to deal with and be able to accommodate people with all levels of education," Ms Perry said.
Ms Perry said she and her small team of staff visited deaf people across the Riverina to assist them in setting up equipment and accessing NDIS.
Many of the people she sees have significant language barriers and have missed out on education opportunities because of their disability.
Ms Perry said the hearing centre had been inundated with requests for coronavirus advice.
"Deafness causes a great deal of frustration and anxiety. [People] are isolated and more so now because of this virus," Ms Perry said.
It was impossible, she said, to read the lips of someone wearing a face mask.
Ms Bloomfield said the world was "changing for the better" but deaf people were still left out.
"We all have different means of communication and we need to be looked at on an individual level ... The deaf community is just as diverse as the hearing community," she said.
