Fiona Murphy

A vivid and essential memoir of deafness, disability and identity by Australian writer Fiona Murphy

The Shape of Sound

Katy Watkins

Deafness is only measured in decibels. Yet these numbers don’t take into consideration the complexity that is involved in conversations. Until there is an understanding that communication is a collective responsibility, it seems unlikely, even impossible, that the stigmatisation of deaf people will dissipate.

The overlooking of disabled bodies is so consistent, so rampant worldwide, that the United Nations has created a checklist for parliamentarians: ‘Why I should be interested in the rights of persons with disabilities.’ Each of the six dot points is a rallying cry of common sense, unfortunately not yet common enough to go unstated. The list begins: ‘The human rights of persons with disabilities should be promoted for the same reason that human rights are promoted for all other people: because of the inherent and equal dignity and worth of each human being.’

I laugh bitterly about the checklist with another disabled friend, whom I had met in a creative-writing workshop. We trade stories about how we cope, the ways in which we find ourselves backed into corners or avoiding, avoiding, avoiding the places that cause us to ache. Others, with able bodies, experience the world in seamless ways, entering and exiting buildings without friction or calculation, because parks and schools and workplaces and homes, and even our Parliament House, have been designed for their bodies only. We know just how necessary that checklist is.

People born with disabilities may need to undergo a process of ‘becoming disabled’ — that is, learning to live in your body as it is, rather than how it is measured by society.

‘Why had all the doctors told me that I was losing my hearing, and not a single one had told me that I was gaining my deafness?’ asked Aaron Williamson, the English performance artist who coined the phrase. 

Deaf Gain suggests that there are benefits to being deaf, for both individuals and society. The word ‘gain’ is round and pert with possibility—profit, growth, yield, boost—dazzling with the promise of community, language and art, shared experiences that mean not having to explain or justify one's body.

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