At NextSense, Macquarie University, the Hunter Deafblind Project from CDAH and Newcastle Deafblind members came down from Newcastle to run their Deafblind Awareness Week 2025 event. Community members Carleeta, Lisa and Pat shared their lived experience. They spoke on how their deafblindness turned their world upside down, some of the many challenges they face, and how they remain positive as they continue to advocate for deafblind awareness and support. We were given the opportunity to participate in simulation activities that took away our sight and sound using blacked-out goggles and earplugs. These activities were designed by deafblind people and provided a very short glimpse into life in their shoes.
As a sighted hearing accessibility assistant of the wonderful Annmaree Watharow, part of my job is sighted guiding. With this activity, the tables turned, and I had to put my trust in the person guiding me, whom I had never met.
During the presentations, Justine mentioned ‘deafblind time’, explaining how the time it takes for a deafblind person to do things can be around three times as long as it would for a sighted hearing person. This simulation certainly proved this, particularly when trying to find a ten-cent coin that was dropped on the ground. Eventually, my guide had to bring my hand over to it so that I wouldn’t be there all day.
This simulation allows participants to gain a deeper understanding of the anxieties, struggles, vulnerabilities, confusions and frustrations of trying to move through a space, complete tasks and communicate without the ability to rely on our own eyes and ears. It provides important insights into the struggles faced by deafblind people in everyday life, not only by listening to people with lived experience share these struggles, but also by experiencing them for ourselves in this way. Knowing what deafblind people are feeling and experiencing allows us to do and be better in the ways that we support.
Overall, this was a fantastic event to start off 2025’s Deafblind Awareness Week. The lived experience talks and interactive activities taught valuable lessons, raising awareness of the challenges and resilience of the deafblind community, and promoting inclusion.
The Hunter Deafblind Project and Newcastle Deafblind members are running this free event in Newcastle next Friday! Take the ‘journey without sight or sound’ and be a part of this important conversation. Registration: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/journey-without-sight-or-sound-newcastle-deafblind-awareness-week-2025-tickets-1300100949939