Today’s the third day of Lockdown 6.0 and I’m still processing how I feel about this. I haven’t written in a while, and I thought it was high time I got back into blogging and doing what I love, writing. There’s nothing more cathartic than writing. Given we only exited Lockdown 5.0 just over a week ago, it feels as if we haven’t been given an opportunity to fully enjoy life post-lockdown before being ushered back into lockdown. How do we process our feelings and thoughts post-lockdown? We’ve barely had the time to process the last lockdown and its impact on us as individuals. When the announce ..read more

Deaf Stories was originally established with a vision of deaf people sharing their experiences as business owners. With Janelle Whalan as my filming assistant, we interviewed four deaf people – Neil Wood, Bobbie Blackson, and Ivan Callaghan & Nicole Cooke about their businesses. The first round of Deaf Stories was funded by Deaf Services’ Life Enrichment Grant which helped us to cover expenses such as travel, software, equipment and other costs associated with Deaf Stories.  After filming, editing and releasing each interview, the engagement from the deaf community I envisioned wasn ..read more

You’ve noticed members of the Deaf community around Australia express their outrage at Andy Dexterity appearing on The Voice this week. They have respectfully asked their loved ones not to tag them in any social media content relating to Dexterity. However, this is not new to us. This has been happening for many years. Since the introduction of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, hearing people have been creating videos to teach Auslan and/or perform songs in Auslan when they have not demonstrated their fluency. Over the last decade, the Deaf community have been tryi ..read more

The other week I did a vlog about my journey as an ally, what I learnt from my errors and how becoming an ally is a life-long process. The vlog was quite timely as I learnt of the murder of George Floyd by four policemen under Minneapolis Police Department in Minneapolis, Minnesota later in the week. George was another victim of racism and police brutality, as many other black people before him have experienced for more than 400 years. The black community in the USA and around the world is outraged and understandably so. They have been oppressed for more than 400 years, and they are angry. The ..read more

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Trigger warning: sexual abuse, rape, abuse. You enter a new relationship, thinking everything will be filled with puppies and rainbows. You smile thinking he’ll treat you like the princess you deserve to be. This was what was on my mind when I started seeing this man. It was a journey I did not imagine – one that would change me forever. At the age of 17, I didn’t know anything about abusive behaviour, red flags, and most importantly, sexual consent. This man was very charming. He was a smooth talker. He knew how to make himself look good. For a few months, we emailed each other. I would go to ..read more

Me at 6 months with my father Dear Stephen, I dreamt of you again last night. It happens during this time of the year – particularly because it was around this time in 2006 when I last saw you. And to be frank, I’m fed up with having these dreams. Despite you not being in my life, I am sick of the hold you have on me. I am sick of you being a major blockage in my life. You were supposed to be the father I needed. But no, you chose to abandon me when I was 3. You stopped being a father when you made the choice to leave me and my life. Since your departure, the question on my mind has always bee ..read more

Me at 16 years old Dear 16 year old me, It’s 2001 and you’re going into Year 10, where you’ll spend most of the year confused about yourself and the world around you. Going through puberty really does your head in, as you deal with your emotions and hormones as a 16 year old girl. You’re very much comfortable being in a t-shirt and shorts/jeans. That is perfectly fine, as that will not change much well into your adulthood. You do you. Ignore those who give you shit about being a tomboy. It’s perfectly okay to be confused about your sexuality. Remember when you had a crush on your mum’s friend ..read more

The deaf community is diverse.  We’ve been reminded of that since the Deaf episode of ABC’s You Can’t Ask That went live on Friday morning. Since sharing my thoughts about the episode, I’ve had people notify me that they were hurt by my comments. I’ve had people comment about how they were re-questioning their identity. When I compiled my thoughts, I forgot about the following: the role language plays in the formation of Deaf identity, particularly for those born to hearing parents; the diversity of deafness; grassroots being given a platform to educate the mainstream community (non-grassro ..read more

With 2018 approaching its end, I revisit my tradition of reflecting on the year that was by writing a post about it. I skipped this last year due to the insane amount of stress I was under. XVIII Australian Deaf Games After 18 months of blood, sweat and tears, the most anticipated event of the Australian Deaf community was about to happen. This time last year, I was experiencing the worst stress and it took a toll on my body in so many ways – mentally and physically. In hot and dry Albury/Wodonga on the NSW & Victoria border, the Games kicked off with an approximately 800-strong crowd. Thr ..read more