They Can

“I will take you to a different world,” my friend said leading me one restaurant in Baneswor. Not used to going to restaurant much, I simply followed him. And curiosity was there, of course, to know what was “different” there. We were going through the menu when a waiter came and just stood up without speaking a single word. To my wonder, my friend made some gestures through his fingers as if signaling something. The waiter went back. Then, he told me all the waiters in that restaurant were hearing and speech impaired. I was surprised.

I had read about the deaf people who have done very marvelous jobs in western countries. But, my encounter with the deaf people in Nepal working on the equal footing with the normal people was first in that restaurant. I thanked the restaurant owner for that matter.

The waiters there were the proof that if given opportunity, deaf and physically disabled people also can work as normal people do. So, they should be employed in almost every known vocation, except those where good hearing is an obvious requirement—for example a commercial pilot or a symphony conductor. They can be doctors, lawyers, teachers as well as secretaries, accountants, chemists, farmers, and laborers. And they have been too.

Deaf people need encouragement, love and special attention from the society and most importantly from the family. If her parents had not taken special care and attention and had not sent her to school, Hellen Keller would have died unknown. But, a deaf and blind lady, Keller became a lecturer and an author, and became an inspiration not only for the deaf people but for all worldwide. Similarly, the 1975 Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry, Sir John W. Comforth, Australian-born British Organic chemist, was also deaf. He lived as a highly honored chemist all through his life. He achieved accomplishments with a disability—his deafness that clearly did not hamper his success.

In the past, until the Middle ages, most people believed that deaf persons were incapable of being educated. It was only after the 16^th century that philosophers and educators began to reconsider the condition of deaf person. Till the beginning of 20^th century, different methods had been developed to educate the deaf people. Development of sign language was one of the major feats. Consequently, perception of people of deafness changed. Now large number of population agrees that deafness does not affect the intellectual capacity and ability to learn and work. A deaf child’s academic progress may be slower than that of hearing children. But, he has the capacity to learn as a normal child does.

Discrimination still does exist as it does for other minority groups. Though many employers are increasingly hiring hearing and speech impaired persons compared with the general population, a large percentage of deaf people still continue to be unemployed or underemployed. I hope, New Nepal will really be ‘new’ in the case of these people too.
(Unedited draft)