This month I would like to wade into the popularly held view that the work and energies poured to achieve cures of ailments, and providing aids to overcome various disabilities is a worthy goal, and where the BDA should stand in relation to that position.

Many readers of BDN will be quite familiar with the divide of the medical approach versus the human rights, of the efforts to enable a Deaf person to fit into the hearing world or where society should be made to fully accept in principle that BSL/Deaf Culture forms an integral part of diversity of the humanity.

These global questions are important ones that the BDA and our supporters must always be aware of, as with the BDA being on a more level footing financially. And with the upcoming CEO being tasked to lead the BDA forward, we need to renew our thinking and how we would best achieve our shared goal on a pragmatic in the reality of our world we live in.

The Government, Whitehall, Medias and the wider society mostly take the view that the industrious efforts and huge amount of money and resources being spent for the betterment of individual's quality of life and choices are virtually undeniably the right way to go. In relation to Deaf that means better and early diagnosis of deafness leading to early intervention and programmes of work linked to the development of language (usually English), increased hearing and positive integration in home/wider society.

This is not just the mantra but a stark reality and where emphasis is placed on parents and deaf child as the primary centre of the consideration. It is seen as right that the decisions affecting any child should not be made by an interest based organisation as all parents want what is best for their child.

Cochlear Implants are much more widely accepted, at least until the newer technology arrived to replace it such as the possible field of gene therapy to treat Deafness. Hearing parents of deaf children will always want to be able to communicate with their child in their own first language; it is their culture that they want to pass onto the child.

So far, these form a larger ocean current which the BDA is attempting to communicate our distinct world view. There are also other organisations, or elements of society that have held minority views that would clash with the medical point of view or simply the expected norms of the majority.

One example is when the Welsh people fought against the possibility which was real - that their language would be lost due to the overpowering and dominant English language. But they have the advantage of nationality, of families being on the same side to support them.

There are active movements in wider disability that oppose the expectations that perfection is normal, and expect equal rights for all disabled people. These movements have led to an increased awareness and the pressures that contributed to the legalisation of Disability Discrimination Act.

The BDA and other likeminded organisations felt the real issue is more about the inequality of BSL on an everyday basis, and where we felt the recognition of BSL is not going to be enough. Nothing less than a legalisation in which BSL is treated as equal and where we can best promote and preserve the unique richness of our language.
The bilingual education and the opportunities to learn BSL for young Deaf people is something the BDA believes is justifiably important. Indeed it should be part of the legalisation for a BSL GCSE curriculum to be available as an opportunity for all young Deaf and hearing people to learn equal to any other foreign language being learnt on a daily basis in the UK.

We do not want to spend our limited and scarce energies on battles that can't be won, such as being perceived wrongly as against the hearing parent's view of a deaf child having the best possible start in life. Or being seen as against the principle of integration or interaction with the wider society, these are not what the BDA is about.

We represent BSL as the primary or preferred language for most of our members, and where BSL is an important part of work or family life for many others and we simply believe that BSL is undervalued, discarded as an important consideration on an everyday basis in employment, access to services, education or leisure.

The DDA exists very imperfectly for the Deaf Community, as it is not a mechanism that really deals with the reality of a minority language and the BDA does not want to be seen as wanting to stop the drive for cures or assistances but wants to focus on increasing the awareness and acceptance of BSL, not as a last resort but as a viable reality.

BSL is perfection for those who use it. The BDA simply need to continually reassert the place BSL has in the heart of our thinking and how we would move forward as an organisation. Any of you who values BSL should also value the place the BDA has and work together in our shared goal - never to allow BSL to fade away and be forgotten, allowing every missed opportunity for Deaf people to continue.