Signed on: Members of the Geelong Deaf Social Group get together. Picture: Tommy Ritchie 75463
JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
THE GEELONG ambassador extraordinaire for the Australian Deaf Games – and for people with hearing impairments generally – is a ball of energy despite his advancing years.
No spare sheet of paper is safe when Stan is around and before long it’s covered in his hurried scrawl as his pen tries to keep up with his brain.
Stan makes it clear from the outset that he has no hearing and no speech as he searches for white space on the sheet, pen at the ready.
The normal three communications dimensions of seeing, hearing and speaking are suddenly reduced to sight only as Stan sets about inscribing his thoughts.
A keen historian, Stan has an outline of the Geelong deaf community at the ready.
Stan is a part-time history researcher for the National Institute for deaf Studies at La Trobe University.
The references begin in 1903 with a committee meeting of the Adult Deaf and Dumb Mission of Victoria, with church services held at All Saints.
In 1931 the first social evening for deaf people in Geelong was held with the formation of a regional committee.
But it wasn’t until 1969 that serious discussions began about starting a club in Geelong.
Although plans to purchase land and build a club premises never transpired, the Geelong Deaf Social Group has been going since, celebrating a 40th anniversary in 2008.
“The Geelong Deaf Social Group is still very active with 30 members,” Stan wrote.
“Most are older people with a hearing impairment, but we use AUSLAN (sign language).
“We meet to cheer ourselves up every second Tuesday of the month and we share information with each other about health and dealing with problems in daily life.
“We hold outings if the weather is nice,” Stan wrote.
Stan holds high hopes that the Australian Deaf Sports being hosted in Geelong starting this weekend will highlight the achievements of people with hearing impairment.
He is particularly keen to reach hearing impaired people living in rural and remote communities.
“We hope it will be a great success but we also hope isolated people in the bush will join us,” Stan wrote.
Stan wrote that more hearing impaired people would be connected through the telephone and video program Skype.
“We hope to teach them how to use Skype on their computer to help them in their daily lives, like doctors visits,” he wrote.
Get in touch with the club be emailing Stan at cats10@ncable.net.au or contact secretary Val Claxton on 5221 9803.
