Deaf and Communication

By
Mohamad Sazali Shaari
Malaysian Federation of the Deaf

Surah Al Hujurat 49 : 13
O mankind, indeed We have created
you from male and female and made
you peoples and tribes that you may
know one another. Indeed, the most
noble of you in the sight of Allah is the
most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is
Knowing and Acquainted.

What is deaf?
Adjective
1. wholly or partly unable to hear
Deaf is invisible handicap

What is hearing?
Hearing is ability to detect and
interpret the sound.
Hearing is the sense by which
sound is perceived.

The Speech Chain (Denes & Pinson,

1993)

Tasko SPPA 6010 Advanced Speech

Science

Deaf and Hard of Hearing

HOH

DEAF

Cause of hearing loss and deafness

The causes of hearing loss and deafness can be divided into
congenital causes and acquired causes.
1. Congenital causes
Congenital causes may lead to hearing loss being present at or
acquired soon after birth. Hearing loss can be caused by
hereditary and non-hereditary genetic factors or by certain
complications during pregnancy and childbirth, including:
maternal rubella, syphilis or certain other infections during pregnancy;
low birth weight;
birth asphyxia (a lack of oxygen at the time of birth);
inappropriate use of particular drugs during pregnancy, such as
aminoglycosides, cytotoxic drugs, antimalarial drugs and diuretics;
severe jaundice in the neonatal period, which can damage the hearing
nerve in a newborn infant.

Cause of hearing loss and

deafness

The causes of hearing loss and deafness can be divided into

congenital causes and acquired causes.
Acquired causes
Acquired causes may lead to hearing loss at any age, such as:

infectious diseases such as meningitis, measles and

mumps;
chronic ear infections;
collection of fluid in the ear (otitis media);
use of particular drugs, such as some antibiotic and
antimalarial medicines;
injury to the head or ear;
excessive noise, including occupational noise such as that
from machinery and explosions, and recreational noise such
as that from personal audio devices, concerts, nightclubs,
bars and sporting events;
ageing, in particular due to degeneration of sensory cells;
wax or foreign bodies blocking the ear canal.

Differences
Ability to hear
Communication
Culture
International
References
Sports

Deaf

Hard of Hearing

No

Yes

Non verbal

Verbal

Yes

No

www.wfdeaf.org

www.ifhoh.org

Deaflympics, Deaf
Games

Olympic, Hearing
Games

Deaf population in Malaysia

WHO estimates 10% of population is PWD
People With Disabilities
Malaysia : 390,000 PWD registered with
SWD- Social Welfare Department (JKM)
39,000 Deaf and HoH (Hard of Hearing)
Federal Const. No 8 - EQUAL rakyat
Education
Employment
Having family
Qadha and Qadhar

 Deaf History ASL Time Line

Socrates (469-399 BC) (Cratylus, 422

BC) :

If we have no voice or tongue

and wish to make things clear to
one another, should we not try
as dumb actually do to make

signs with our hand,

head and person generally?

Communication Methods
Communication methods for communicating
with deaf and hard of hearing people (and
language development)
sign language Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia,
Bahasa Malaysia Kod Tangan
Signed Exact English,
cued speech,
auditory verbal,
speechreading/lipreading,
and total communication.

Chronology of local signs

Federation School of the Deaf was the first
deaf school established in 1954, Pulau
Pinang
British education system and oralism was
used at the school.
Using signs was not permitted and was
punished
Signing was used underground.
The signs was influence by way of life
and cultural of the local.

Local signs in 50s

mother

woman

father

tiring

Sign language is not universal.

China

Japan

India

Thailand

The Bahasa Malaysia Kod Tangan :

Hand Coded Bahasa Malaysia
1967, David Denton from Maryland School for
the Deaf USA develop the Total Communication
Total Communication is a way of communicating with
people with learning disabilities.
It is a combination of lots of different ways of
communicating. It is not just about speech.

1978, Dr. Frances Parson comes to Malaysia

and introduce the TC to Dr. Mahathir
Mohamad, Minister of Education.
TC was given trial and was implemented in our
education system.

The Bahasa Malaysia Kod

Tangan
The BMKT was first published in
1978. The BMKT are based on
translation
of
American
Sign
Language.
Was used widely in special education
school until today.
The BMKT consists of 2,000 code

The awareness
2 important major event happening in
Malaysia :
Asia Pacific Deaf Games, 1996 and
Conference of Bilingualism in Deaf
Education 1996 in Kuala Lumpur
The foreign participants remind the
Malaysian Deaf Community in using
foreign signs. There is need in
upholding local identity.

BAHASA ISYARAT MALAYSIA PROJECT

1996 Kuala Lumpur Society of the Deaf starts
the collection of local signs
1997 Abilis Foundation, Finland give financial
support amounting USD 10,000
1999 standardised the signs collected by Deaf
leaders at MAKPEM, Sentul and approve the
name Bahasa Isyarat Malaysia or BIM
1999 receive USD 50,000 from Japanese
Government for printing of books.
2000 BIM was officially lanunched at Armanda
Hotel, PJ and given extra RM 203,000 for
roadshow and distributions.
Up-to-date 18 books with 10,000 signs including
technical terminologies, health, sports, Islam.

BIM as official language

UNESCO Salamanca Framework of Action on
Education for Special Needs. National sign
language used in education.
People With Disabilities Act 2008 (Act 685),
recognise BIM as official language for the Deaf.
2010, Malaysia government ratify the UN
Convention of the Right of People with
Disabilities.

Q&A