[SPAM] Antw: UN consultation on disability inclusion--the perspective of deaf people and sign language linguists is needed

Tue Mar 26 23:37:35 UTC 2013

To your comments I would only add a precision Albert:

As a linguistic minority signing deaf have always been systematically excluded.

Participating in a consultation already targeted at “The way forward: a disability-inclusive development agenda towards 2015 and beyond” is probably useless. Rhetorically speaking, the following topic would be senseless:

“The way forward: a linguistic minority-inclusive development agenda towards 2015 and beyond”

In order for the latter "way forward" to be coherent, the notion of "inclusive" would have to be turned upside down, and that is something that the policy makers at the UN do not intend to do.

I believe the deaf community and signing deaf organizations badly need an agenda of their own.

Dr. Boris Fridman Mintz
Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia
chido at mac.com
Skype		boris.fm
Cel.			+521 (55) 1878-3771

On Mar 26, 2013, at 1:35 PM, Albert Bickford <albert_bickford at SIL.ORG> wrote:

> There's an ambiguity in the word "development" that may be confusing the discussion a bit.  There is the sense that focuses on language acquisition in children, and the sense of "community development" in societies where there are needs in the areas of poverty, health, education, gender equality, social welfare, etc.  I think the UN consultation is focusing on the second sense, although of course the first sense is part of that as it pertains to education.  As Franz says, it is not very clear when you go to the site what the goal is, unless one has been part of the global development community.
> 
> As I understand it, the particular focus of the UN consultation is that in light of the UN's "Millenium Development Goals" (http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/), people with disabilities have often been ignored.  I would point out that people in minority language communities have also often been ignored--people have tried to conduct development activities while relying on national languages rather than local languages.  Signing deaf people get doubly-ignored.
> 
> I'm pleased to see that people are preparing to make contributions.  As of this moment, I haven't seen any appear on the site, but probably its just that the moderator hasn't gotten to them yet (it's only been about 18 hours since I submitted mine).
> 
> Albert Bickford
> SIL International
>   Linguistic Services Coordinator, Global Sign Languages Team
>   Director, SIL-UND
> 
> Please use different email addresses for different topics:
>   sign languages: linguistic_services_gslt at sil.org
>   SIL-UND: director_silund at sil.org
>   other: albert_bickford at sil.org 
> 
> late May through early August: 
>   2901 University Ave Stop 8217, Grand Forks ND 58202; 701-777-0575
> mid-August through mid-May: 
>   16131 N. Vernon Dr., Tucson AZ 85739; 520-825-1229
> 
> On 2013/03/26 12:18 AM, Franz.Dotter at UNI-KLU.AC.AT wrote:
>> Dear Albert,
>>  
>> Maybe I'm to silly, but after having created my account, I could not find an overview concerning the consultation, just found one question and then two others elsewhere. Can anyone help?
>>  
>> Related to the consultation: To put one very important point, namely language development: doctors, speech therapists etc. signal a potential big problem if a hearing child does not reach the 50 words limit with 2 years of age and demand urgent action not to create language and cognition delays or deficits. For deaf children there is no such effort. On the contrary: Many "experts" tell the parents: "Just wait, language will emerge some time later". We have to overcome this split thinking: Also deaf children have the right to develop their language in the same life period as hearing children do. As long as we do not reach this goal of "language development for deaf children in the sensible phases", there will be massive developmental delays.
>> To put another analogy which is not taken up to now: All linguists stress the importance of allowing/assisting migrant children in using and developing also their mother/family language for their future identity and language competences. But this is not taken earnest for deaf children: They are kept away from sign language which they could (not must!) choose as their mother or preferred language. So they are also broken in identity as they are only forced to accept that they will be less good spoken language users for their whole life.
>>  
>> Best Regards
>>  
>> Franz Dotter
>>  
>> Center for Sign Language and Deaf Communication, University of Klagenfurt
>> Additionally funded by: Provincial government of Carinthia
>> Head: Franz Dotter (hearing)
>> Collaborators: Elisabeth Bergmeister (deaf), Silke Bornholdt (deaf),  Luzia Gansinger (hearing), Simone Greiner-Ogris         (hearing) Andrea Grilz (hearing, on maternity leave), Christian Hausch (deaf), Marlene Hilzensauer (hearing), Klaudia Krammer (hearing), Christine Kulterer (hearing), Andrea Lackner (hearing), Anita Pirker (deaf), Nathalie Slavicek (hard of hearing), Natalie Unterberger (deaf)
>> Administration: Friederike Wieser (hearing)
>> Homepage: http://www.uni-klu.ac.at/zgh
>> Deaf server (in German): http://deaf.uni-klu.ac.at
>> Fax: ++43 (0)463 2700 992891 (Elisabeth Bergmeister), /992892 (Silke Bornholdt), /992893 (Christian Hausch), /992894 (Anita Pirker), /992895 (Nathalie Slavicek), /992896 (Natalie Unterberger), /992802 (Friederike Wieser)
>> Phone: ++43 (0)463 2700 /2821 (Franz Dotter),/2823 (Marlene Hilzensauer), /2824 (Klaudia Krammer), /2829 (Christine Kulterer), /2802 (Friederike Wieser)
>> Email addresses: firstname.lastname at uni-klu.ac.at
>> 
>> 
>> >>> "Albert Bickford" <albert_bickford at SIL.ORG> 3/25/2013 5:36 >>>
>> Dear colleagues:
>> 
>> (Before you get upset about the use of the word "disabled" on this email list, please read on!)
>> 
>> I have just become aware that the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) and UNICEF are beginning preparations for a high-level meeting on disability and development this September.  They have organized an online forum for preliminary discussion of the matter.  So far, the special perspective of deaf people and sign language linguists has not been represented.  As a result, there is a distinct possibility that approaches and strategies proposed for persons with disabilities generally may be misapplied to deaf people, ignoring the crucial role that sign language plays in the lives of deaf people and deaf communities.  
>> 
>> I believe that people on this forum may want to express their views in the online consultation that is currently taking place.  See the email quoted below for details on how to participate.
>> 
>> Please note that discussion closes in just a couple days, so if you want to say something, act now.
>> 
>> -- 
>> 
>> Albert Bickford
>> SIL International
>>   Linguistic Services Coordinator, Global Sign Languages Team
>>   Director, SIL-UND
>> 
>> Please use different email addresses for different topics:
>>   sign languages: linguistic_services_gslt at sil.org
>>   SIL-UND: director_silund at sil.org
>>   other: albert_bickford at sil.org 
>> 
>> late May through early August: 
>>   2901 University Ave Stop 8217, Grand Forks ND 58202; 701-777-0575
>> mid-August through mid-May: 
>>   16131 N. Vernon Dr., Tucson AZ 85739; 520-825-1229
>> 
>> -------
>> 
>> Dear members of the WorldWeWant2015.org website,
>> 
>> In many countries, the realization of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) has not been achieved for persons with disabilities. This clearly highlights the importance of ensuring that development processes are inclusive of persons with disabilities and their perspectives for the still ongoing efforts to accelerate and expand progress on the MDGs and in the definition of the new development framework that will succeed the MDGs, after 2015. 
>> 
>> 
>> On 23 September 2013, the UN General Assembly will hold a High-level Meeting on disability and development, with the overarching theme “The way forward: a disability-inclusive development agenda towards 2015 and beyond”, at UN Headquarters in New York.   
>> 
>> 
>> To ensure that the post-2015 agenda is inclusive of disability, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs in collaboration with UNICEF is holding an online moderated consultation to gather views from a broad range of stakeholders on how to include disability in the post-2015 development framework, in order to contribute to the ongoing work for the High-level Meeting.
>> 
>> 
>> Building on the earlier online discussion on “Addressing Inequalities and Persons with Disabilities in the Post-2015 development agenda”, held on this site in November (read the summary report here:http://www.worldwewant2015.org/node/304822) this consultation aims to take a closer look at the particular challenges faced by per! sons with disabilities in different regions, and identify the specific measures and actions to be taken by different stakeholders to promote a disability-inclusive society and development.
>> 
>> 
>> In this context, we would like to invite you take part in this online consultation, starting on 8 March and running for three weeks until 28 March.
>> 
>> 
>> To participate, please visit the site www.worldwewant2015.org/enable and log-in or register here (http://www.worldwewant2015.org/register). Simultaneous consultations will take place in English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.  The site is compatible with screen readers, however, if you are unable to access the site, please email your response to:enable at worldwewant2015.org.  Please note that the forum is moderated, therefore your post will not appear immediately but will be posted within twenty-four hours.
>> 
>> 
>> The recommendations emerging from your contributions will be incorporated into a report on the consultations to inform the preparation of the outcome document for the UN High-level Meeting on 23 September 2013.
>> 
>> 
>> The consultation aims to be as broad and open as possible, in order to enable a multitude of voices to be heard from Governments, UN system organizations, academia, media, private sector and civil society organizations, including persons with disabilities and their organizations (DPOs).
>> 
>> 
>> Please invite your colleagues, partners and networks to participate!
>> 
>> 
>> Warm regards,
>> 
>> 
>> United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) and UNICEF in collaboration with the United Nations Promoting the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNPRPD)
>> 
>> 
>> Contact: enable at worldwewant2015.org
>> 
>> Discussion web site: http://www.worldwewant2015.org/enable
>> 
>>  
> 

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