Deaf survivors who registered with the Inquiry

18. Deaf survivors including tāngata Turi Māori made up 6 percent of the 2,329 survivors who registered with the Inquiry.

19. The experiences of every Deaf and hard of hearing survivor informed the Inquiry’s observations, findings and recommendations. Many are referenced or quoted in the Inquiry’s final report, Whanaketia – Through pain and trauma, from darkness to light, and the Van Asch College and Kelston School for the Deaf case study, Our Hands Were Tied. In addition, profiles of some Deaf survivors were highlighted.

20. In the case study:

• Māori survivor Hēmi Hema (Whakatōhea, Ngāti Kahungunu), who attended Van Asch College and Kelston School for the Deaf
• Māori survivor Mr LF (Ngāti Maniapoto), who attended Kelston School for the Deaf
• NZ European survivor Ms MK, who attended Van Asch College

21. In the Inquiry’s final report, Whanaketia – Through pain and trauma, from darkness to light:

• in Part 2, Māori survivor Whiti Ronaki (Te Arawa), who attended Kelston School for the Deaf
• in Part 3, Cook Island Māori survivor Ms QP, who was placed in social welfare and mental health care settings and attended Wellington High School (Special Unit)
• in Part 8, NZ European survivor Ms NH, who attended Kelston School for the Deaf.

22. The table below sets out additional demographic information about the 130 Deaf survivors including tāngata Turi Māori who registered with the Inquiry:

*Survivors who experienced both State and faith-based care are counted in all three groups (State care, faith-based care, and
State and faith-based care). 

23. The Inquiry held hui at Rūaumoko Marae (located at Kelston) in 2021 and Papatūānuku Kōkiri Marae with tāngata Turi Māori in 2022. The Inquiry held its Ūhia te Māramatanga Disability, Deaf and Mental Health Institutional Care Hearing in July 2022. A Deaf expert reference group was established to advise the Inquiry.

24. Part 1, Chapter 5 of the Inquiry’s final report, Whanaketia – Through pain and trauma, from darkness to light, provides additional information on how the Inquiry engaged with Deaf survivors, tāngata Turi Māori, their whānau and wider communities.

Identities and key concepts

25. Many Deaf people including tāngata Turi Māori do not consider themselves as being disabled, rather they are disabled by society and are part of a cultural and linguistic group for whom Sign Language is a key marker of identity. This is particularly so for those born Deaf or who become Deaf prior to the acquisition of language. Those who lose their hearing as an adult are more likely to see themselves as hard of hearing and
disabled by this. Survivor Ms MH told the Inquiry:

“I cannot properly explain to hearing people what Deaf culture is, or whatit is like to be Deaf. Deaf people are not disabled. I might be financially disabled, but I am not disabled in any other way.[3]

26. The Inquiry acknowledges that Deaf people and their communities have their own histories, worldviews and values. The Inquiry acknowledges that tāngata Turi Māori, and Deaf people who are Pacific and / or Takatāpui, Rainbow or MVPFAFF+ have their own unique experiences and perspectives.

27. Deaf children and young people in care experienced audism, which is a form of systemic oppression that disempowers Deaf people, based on a view of deafness as pathology and speaking / hearing as normal. Audism manifests as discriminatory attitudes and actions by hearing or Deaf individuals towards Deaf people, and through institutionalised practices such as oralist education and employment discrimination. [4]

Oralism refers to the education of Deaf children and young people to produce oral language using lipreading, mimicking mouth shapes, using breathing patterns and vocal exercises of speech.

28. Ableism and disablism can contribute to the barriers experienced by Deaf people, tāngata Turi Māori and people who are hard of hearing. They are belief systems that see value in people only according to their ability to have bodies or minds that fit social and medical definitions of ‘normal’ and are considered productive and desirable.

Framework applied by the Inquiry to understand and analyse Deaf survivors’ experiences

29. The Inquiry’s approach to understanding the experiences of Deaf survivors including tāngata Turi Māori was informed by the knowledge, expertise and work of its Deaf Reference Group and what it heard from Deaf survivors, tāngata Turi Māori, their whānau and communities.

30. Part 1, Chapter 6 of the Inquiry’s final report, Whanaketia – Through pain and trauma, from darkness to light, sets out the framework that the Inquiry used to guide its analysis and understanding of Deaf survivors including tāngata Turi Māori who suffered abuse and neglect in State and faith-based care. The framework was also used to understand the experiences of disabled survivors and survivors who experienced mental distress.

31. Part 1, Chapter 6 of the Inquiry’s final report, Whanaketia – Through pain and trauma, from darkness to light, also describes the principles from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with  Disabilities and Enabling Good Lives, which the Inquiry considered appropriate to help frame its understanding and analysis of the abuse and neglect suffered by Deaf survivors.

Context relevant to Deaf people in Aotearoa New Zealand

32. During the Inquiry period, Sumner Institution for the Deaf and Dumb (renamed Van Asch College in 1980) in Ōtautahi Christchurch, and Kelston School for the Deaf in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland were the main public providers of Deaf education. Both schools were run and funded by the State.

33. Chapter 1 of the Inquiry's Van Asch College and Kelston School for the Deaf case study, Our Hands Were Tied, sets out the context and history of these two schools.

34. Part 2 of the Inquiry’s final report, Whanaketia – Through pain and trauma, from darkness to light, includes more detailed contextual and historical information relevant to the abuse and neglect of Deaf people in care:

• Chapter 2 describes traditional Māori, Pacific and settler societal attitudes to care
• Chapter 3 describes the arrival of missionaries in Aotearoa New Zealand and the start of colonisation, including the State’s role in education
• Chapter 4 explains societal attitudes to Deaf people during the Inquiry period
• Chapters 5 and 6 summarise key events in Aotearoa New Zealand’s social and economic history in 1900–1950 and 1950–1970
• Chapter 7 summarises key events in Aotearoa New Zealand’s social and economic history in 1970–1990, including the introduction of Total Communication and the increasing visibility of Deaf people in society
• Chapter 8 discusses the limited demographic data available about Deaf people during the Inquiry period
• Chapter 9 summarises Aotearoa New Zealand’s system of government, education legislation and the Department of Education, including the history of special schools
• Chapter 10 describes the State-run disability care settings during the Inquiry period, including psychopaedic institutions, sheltered workshops and special schools
• Chapter 11 describes the faith-based care settings during the Inquiry period, including St Dominic’s School for the Deaf in two locations (Te Whanganui-ā-Tara Wellington and Manawatu).

Footnotes

[3]Witness statement of Ms MH (18 October 2021, para 3.8)

[4] Lane, H, The mask of benevolence: Disabling the Deaf community (Knopf Publishing Group, 1992)