Our excursion to Finland!

What a week we had! We went to Helsinki, Finland to participate in the International Conference of the WFD for Human Rights. The conference was titled “Our Rights, Our Future” and had speakers who focused on the topic of human rights in the Deaf community. The right to use sign language and to be educated in sign language was the main theme of the human rights conference.
This was my first experience attending an international conference- it was amazing- all the sign languages being used, the different colors and dress, the unity of Deaf Peoples! It was inspiring to see two Deaf members of their country Parliament speak in the conference (Wilma of South Africa and Helga of the Flemish Parliament in Belgium). That got me thinking about Deaf politicians in the USA… have to research on that…
After being a professional and an educator in the Deaf Education field for some time now, it was strange attending a conference as a Frontrunners participant- which now has been termed an extremist group by some! :) As a group, we gave a short presentation and handed out flyers about genocide against the Deaf Community. We also wore t-shirts with a picture of bowling pins representing the Deaf Community and a bowling ball representing genocide. We shared information about how genocide is happening in the Deaf Community- through genetic engineering and the suppressing of sign languages.
Overall, many Deaf people at the conference agreed with us and support using the term genocide. However, some still associate genocide only with murders and devastation (the Holocaust, for example). The UN has established an international definition for genocide- two articles apply to the Deaf Community: forcibly transferring children from a group into another and causing seriously bodily or mental harm to members of the group. I feel that this is absolutely true. I have seen many Deaf children being transferred into the hearing world without having any say in the process and the mental harm that has resulted. Not only that, but also the harm of delayed language development, cognitive thinking and learning that occurs in almost all Deaf children. I do understand the countless parents and educators who believe it is best for the Deaf child to be able to function in the mainstream (aka hearing and normal) society. It is a logical argument for any minority group- in order to survive or to become successful, you have to be able to function in the majority society. However, it is impossible to have the one perfect ideal that everyone can and must follow. (Like my parents always said “What is normal, anyway!?!?“) That is why diversity is finally being embraced nowadays in many nations- resulting in more acceptance in language and cultural differences among peoples. It was interesting for me to learn about the countries that embrace minority groups and language diversity and how the Deaf usually fare better in these countries.
Outside the conference, I met many great people and did some international networking! I also attended a performance with groups from different countries- with drama, dancing and even rapping by Deaf performers! We had a great time and I look forward to attending the next international conference! :) (Hopefully that will be the conference in France next month!)