By Callum Ludwig
A group of Warburton residents have come together to learn an important new skill for communicating with their community, fittingly gathering at the Koha Community Cafe.
They have been learning some basic skills of Auslan, learning how to sign in order to communicate with hearing-impaired people without the need for pen and paper.
Julie Davison taught the group and said the more people who can communicate with the deaf people and be inclusive of their needs, the better.
“There seems to be a lot of interest in the community for people to learn Auslan, including teaching it at schools. It started at a cafe with friends talking about lockdowns and one mentioned the interpreters at the press conferences and said ‘I’d love to learn that’ and I said I could teach them,” she said.
“It helps get it out there, and I get to teach about deaf culture and history, as they were quite oppressed. Auslan is another language and so it’s not so much a disability if they’re given the opportunity for other people to sign to them.”
Ms Davison worked with the deaf community as a social worker for many years and learnt Auslan along the way.
Ms Davison said some people find it difficult, and some find it harder to learn.
“There is a lot of effort involved, and you should practice almost every day, otherwise you might struggle to get it. It certainly isn’t a task for busy people,” she said.
“Once you are fluent, you can get away with not practising, like it’s in a hard drive, but you have to practice a lot to get there, which can be hard without a deaf person in your life.”
Ms Davison ran a class in Warburton and at the Lilydale Community House, where is continuing to host practice sessions once a fortnight.
Volunteer at the Warburton Information Centre and participant Lavinia McEwan said she hopes her new Auslan skills can help her in her volunteering.
“It was excellent to learn and I am glad I took the time to do it. After I get over the stage fright if someone came in and signed to me, I now know phrases like ’How can I help you?’, ‘Can you please sign slowly? I’m only learning’ and the full alphabet in case I have to fingerspell,” she said.
“It gave me a real sense of achievement, and I think it is vital to learn. I would encourage anyone in their late 60s like myself to learn it to not only stretch their mind but to look out for somebody in the community who is hearing impaired.”
