The Rebuttal

Take My Word For it
The Rebuttal One of my pet hates in life is to have to constantly prove that I am deaf. You know society mistrusts everyone so much that you must show that you are the real deal. Often it is necessary because people do take advantage.  For example they will try to de-fraud Centrelink of Disability Pension money [...]
Sat, Aug 28 2010

Julie Phillips Response to Little Deaf Girl
The Rebuttal The most recent article about deaf kids in schools re-awakened the frustration that I'm sure many of us share when thinking about deaf education.  It was very interesting  to read about the difference between “coping “and doing  the best that you can. Without getting too technical, this was the subject of an appeal in a [...]
Tue, Aug 24 2010

Little Deaf Girl – Editorial comment
The Rebuttal How much is good enough? Is it good enough for a deaf kid to “do well” in a classroom? If they are above average, is this enough? If a deaf kid is at or above the average achievement in their class is the job done? In my years working as a case manager or support [...]
Tue, Aug 17 2010

Little Deaf Girl
The Rebuttal The little girl was sitting at the classroom table with her friends. At the end of the table sat her “interpreter”. The teacher asked the class to write about their weekend and the interpreter, signing effectively, relayed this information to the girl. The little deaf girl nodded and got cracking. As she worked the “interpreter” [...]
Sun, Aug 15 2010

The Time for Healing is Now
The Rebuttal The Rebuttal is known as a biff bang mag. We are seen by many as a group of angry individuals who take pot shots at unsuspecting organisations. Often this is true. It is not done to take pot shots, more it is done to create discussion and awareness. Sometimes, perhaps, a line is crossed, but [...]
Thu, Aug 05 2010

“Mind Your Vote” by Dean Barton-Smith
The Rebuttal It is Election Time again where all the political parties come out in the public, kiss babies, throw out ambitious policies here and there, toss a few millions of dollars in some areas, promises better lifestyle for families, businesses, make some snide remakes about their oppositions, faced with numerous negative television campaigns about why you [...]
Thu, Aug 05 2010

My Mate Tony
The Rebuttal I met Tony Abbott once in his office at Parliament House in Canberra. Kevin Rudd had recently come to power and Tony had been shafted to the backbench. He was the shadow minister for employment and community services or something other.  I went to talk with him about employment issues for Deaf and hearing impaired [...]
Wed, Aug 04 2010

David – From the Archives
The Rebuttal In the context of the debate over captioning, sign language or both that has arisen from the publicity surrounding Ai Media and classroom captioning we bring you and older edition of The Rebuttal. We ask readers to consider David's situation and where captioning and signing would fit into David's life, particularly in terms of classroom [...]
Tue, Aug 03 2010

Carrie – from the Archives
The Rebuttal Again in the context of the Ai Media debate we bring you an oldie. These are the issues that we need to consider in the context of the debate. Carrie is six years old. She is sitting at the dinner table with her family. She looks down at her Brussels sprout with absolute loathing. She [...]
Tue, Aug 03 2010

Rebekah Rose-Mundy’s response to Tony Abraham’s Letter to...
The Rebuttal Thank you Tony for your response I am pleased to see you are still seeing ‘Sign Language’ is still viable for many deaf children thank you. This is important to me to know that. However I still have questions that are not answered. How can a deaf child find out what a word means? It [...]
Tue, Aug 03 2010

Captions to complement not replace sign language.
The Rebuttal Tony Abrahams, CEO of Ai media has written this letter to the editor of the Sydney Morning Herald. We print it here as a follow up to the Opinion piece submitted by Rebekah Rose-Mundy. There is also a Facebook page where people can debate and share their views. join in the debate on [link]   [...]
Tue, Aug 03 2010

Carrie – from the Archives
The Rebuttal Again in the context of the Ai Media debate we bring you an oldie. These are the issues that we need to consider in the context of the debate. Carrie is six years old. She is sitting at the dinner table with her family. She looks down at her Brussels sprout with absolute loathing. She [...]
Tue, Jul 27 2010

David – From the Archives
The Rebuttal In the context of the debate over captioning, sign language or both that has arisen from the publicity surrounding Ai Media and classroom captioning we bring you and older edition of The Rebuttal. We ask readers to consider David's situation and where captioning and signing would fit into David's life, particularly in terms of classroom [...]
Tue, Jul 27 2010

Rebekah Rose-Mundy’s response to Tony Abraham’s Letter to...
The Rebuttal Thank you Tony for your response I am pleased to see you are still seeing ‘Sign Language’ is still viable for many deaf children thank you. This is important to me to know that. However I still have questions that are not answered. How can a deaf child find out what a word means? It [...]
Tue, Jul 27 2010

Captions to complement not replace sign language.
The Rebuttal Tony Abrahams, CEO of Ai media has written this letter to the editor of the Sydney Morning Herald. We print it here as a follow up to the Opinion piece submitted by Rebekah Rose-Mundy. There is also a Facebook page where people can debate and share their views. join in the debate on [link]   [...]
Mon, Jul 26 2010

Opinion – by Rebekah Rose-Mundy
The Rebuttal AI Media have been in the news recently. They have been on The New Inventors show on ABC and have been promoted widely through numerous newspaper articles. They have been promoting their new system of classroom captioning to much aclaim. Rebekah Rose -Mundy challenges the assumption that the AI  Media classroom captioning is the new [...]
Mon, Jul 26 2010

From Whence We Came
The Rebuttal Someone reminded me today that it was 41 years since man landed on the moon. I was 5 years old then. I remember sitting outside in the garden and looking up at the moon. As I stared intensely I could not understand why I couldn’t see them up there. Surely Armstrong and co would be [...]
Wed, Jul 21 2010

Getting it Back to Front
The Rebuttal One of the projects I am doing at work at the moment is to test the Disability Employment Service (DES). I am trying to set up precedents as to how the various support programs provided by the DES can be used to assist people with a disability. One of these programs is called Jobs in [...]
Sun, Jul 18 2010

The Blue Stone Consultations- Report complied by Gary...
The Rebuttal Congratulations to the Deaf  community for attending the Deaf Children Australia consultation about the sale of its assets related to the iconic Blue Stone Building. Quite rightly the Deaf community are concerned about any sale of assets related to the historic blue Stone Building on St Kilda Road. Tough questions were asked, some answered and [...]
Sun, Jul 11 2010

HEY! We Are Over Here!
The Rebuttal Its happening again! The Deaf community are the last to know. Part of its history is under threat of being sold off. Of course the Deaf community are only told when negotiations are well progressed. In this case parts of the property at the historic Blue Stone building on St Kilda Road are being considered [...]
Sun, Jul 04 2010

Michael Clarksons Response to the Queenslander of the Year...
The Rebuttal As a professional teaching in the field of deaf education I don't particularly agree with some of the comments made by Julie Judd – President of CODA Australia in response to the awarding of Dimity Dorman’s Queenslander of the Year Award. At the risk of being branded a traitor I would like to offer the [...]
Sat, Jul 03 2010

To PC or not PC?
The Rebuttal I attended the Australian Sign Language Interpreters Association awards of the Victorian branch on Saturday. As always it was a lavish affair and a great time was had by all.  I am not much for the awards part, though I have enormous respect for all the winners, but I love the floor show and catching up [...]
Mon, Jun 21 2010

Queensland MP David Gibson responds to Queenslander of tyhe...
The Rebuttal Please see below the Budget in Reply speech given last Friday morning by Gympie MP, David Gibson in the Queensland Parliament which addresses the issues raised by members of  the Deaf community and CODA Australia in some part: David Gibson MEMBER FOR GYMPIE 2010 BUDGET IN REPLY Mr GIBSON (Gympie—LNP) …It is now appropriate for me to turn my [...]
Mon, Jun 14 2010

Media Release from CODA Australia (Printed with permission.)
The Rebuttal The recent budget announcement by the Queensland State Government to award over four million dollars to the “Hear and Say” Centre in Brisbane perpetuates and reinforces the view that deaf children should be educated in a manner that has proven to be unsuccessful and denies deaf children the opportunity to acquire Auslan (Australian Sign Language). [...]
Mon, Jun 14 2010

Stand Up and Be Counted
The Rebuttal Well, well, well – It is now public. the Cinema's have made their offer and the consultation has begun. Deafness Forum have got the ball rolling and have put a poll on their website to see if people are happy with the offer.  I for one must say I am EXTREMELY impressed. Having said that [...]
Thu, Jun 10 2010

It’s All Happening in Queensland
The Rebuttal I simply couldn’t measure up as a “hearing” person. 30 years of butting my head against a brick wall in the mistaken belief that I could be a “hearing” person (when I was profoundly Deaf)! This is all so obviously wrong that I am somewhat ashamed of myself for letting this happen. MICHAEL LOCKREY This is one [...]
Tue, Jun 08 2010

Michael Lockrey’s Personal Story
The Rebuttal Michaels story was submitted as a comment to A Communities Wrath – Ir is worth a post on its own so we have reprinted it here. Thank you Michael! Just to add a personal story – I was schooled in the lipreading / auditory approach from a very young age. It was certainly effective – as [...]
Mon, Jun 07 2010

A Communities Wrath.
The Rebuttal “I stand here to represent all the children who are deaf, and all who haven't been born yet who are deaf,” she told the audience. “I think the changes we can make in (deaf) children's lives are so huge you can't believe them until you see them. “Deaf is not deaf anymore,” Dimiti Dorman, accepting her Queenslander of [......
Thu, Jun 03 2010

LIFE
The Rebuttal I was fortunate last week to fly First Class. I sit on a government committee that they deem to be so important that members fly First Class. For the pedantic, it's Busimess Class. I have told te Government that I am happy to fly economy but they are having none of it. The flight to [...]
Tue, May 25 2010

Train Wrecks
The Rebuttal I am a mere passenger. I sit in my chair, carry out my duties for work and family man while the Deaf sector seemingly self destructs. It's like a sedate drive in the country. Quiet winding roads, cows in the paddock, the odd kookaburra flying by while the mists hover enchantingly inches above the grass. [...]
Sun, May 23 2010

Working as One
The Rebuttal This week members of Deaf Australia have received a survey asking them to indicate what they feel is an acceptable level of cinema access. The Rebuttal is a firm supporter of consulting with the wider community before proposing things to governments or other organisations. On the one hand it is good that Deaf Australia is [...]
Thu, May 13 2010

Worldwide Campaign
The Rebuttal BSL version here. A Bristol University Centre that has been a beacon and an inspiration to Deaf people all over the world is facing savage staffing cuts which, experts say, would make it ineffective – and with it we may lose one of Britain's proudest claims to worldwide academic leadership. For more than thirty years, the Centre [...]
Wed, May 12 2010

DEAF STUDIES UNDER THREAT !
The Rebuttal This is a cross post, but please take the time to read, and respond. The University of Bristol is currently considering plans to close the CDS’ long-running BSc degree in Deaf Studies and other parts of CDS’ work. Why? This is said to be for financial and academic reasons, that it is expensive and does [...]
Sun, May 09 2010

That’s Fair
The Rebuttal Carl Williams was bashed to death in gaol recently. This alleged cold blooded mass murderer met the fate that he is accused of dishing out to so many. Of course his life is glorified in Australia. He is the subject of countless newspaper articles, books and even a TV series called Underbelly. Just before his [...]
Wed, May 05 2010

A Man of Integrity
The Rebuttal I have recently returned from the Deafness Forum Summit in Sydney. It was extremely successful. The highlight for me was the dinner where Caroline Conlon and Todd McKenney put on a wonderful show of singing and signing caberet. For me this was the most important part of the whole conference. The conference was largely dominated [...]
Tue, Apr 27 2010

The First Victory
The Rebuttal I love finding quotes on the Internet. Something happens that stirs my intellect and I like to see if other minds have thought along similar lines. What one finds is that their thought processes and feelings are very rarely unique. If you have thought it, you can bet that at some time in history its [...]
Sun, Apr 18 2010

TOOOOO Heavvvvy!!!
The Rebuttal It has been a really heavy week this week. An all out war has erupted between Deaf Australia and Deafness Forum. On this Forum it got personal and nasty, even silly. Basically it was a territorial argument. Two bodies wanting the same thing and one wanting to be the body that says it rather than [...]
Fri, Mar 26 2010

Collaborate or Die! By Gary Kerridge
The Rebuttal What I am about to write, I probably should not. I am a Board member of Deafness Forum Australia. Protocol dictates that I should not comment on this issue. However, I am so saddened and frustrated by what has occurred I feel that I must comment. In commenting I wish to make it very clear. [...]
Tue, Mar 23 2010

The Age of Sincerity
The Rebuttal Has anyone ever seen the Monty Python Movie – the Life of Brian? There is one sketch that pokes fun at authority and, to a lesser degree, disability. Pontius Pilate is trying to pacify the masses. He has offered to set one of their peers free from prison to show that he is a “Fweind”of [...]
Mon, Mar 22 2010

Annabel’s Story
The Rebuttal Every now and again we receive a response to The Rebuttal that reminds us how important it is that we continue to speak out and confront our audience.  Sometimes you will agree with us and sometimes you will not. But the following response reminds us of why we must never remain silent and why we [...]
Thu, Mar 18 2010

A Day in Hospital
The Rebuttal Being a parent with a kid in hospital is generally a harrowing experience. When you are deaf it can be doubly so. Certainly if you know Auslan you can get access to interpreters which is a great help, but anyone will tell you getting an interpreter to a hospital, particularly at short notice and with  [...]
Sun, Mar 14 2010

You’re ‘Aving a Lean
The Rebuttal Did you know that on the same day that the big four cinemas responded to questions asked of them in relation to their application for exemption to Disability Discrimination Complaints Hoyts released their profit figures? Last year Hoyts generated box office takings of $1.1billion dollars. Revenue for Hoyts from this turnover was $400 million. Here [...]
Wed, Mar 10 2010

It’s All happening in Deafness
The Rebuttal There is never a dull moment in deafness and at the moment, here in Australia, it is all happening. First we had the Cinema Captioning Campaign and a nationwide protest. Then we had the shock demise of Dering Employment, the British company that raised the hopes of everyone and fell apart in Australia  like a [...]
Mon, Mar 01 2010

Daring Derings Gone
The Rebuttal Last year Dering Employment hit Australian shores with a bang. Dering is a British company that was set up by a Deaf man, Stephen Dering. Mr Dering had been working assisting people with disabilities, particularly deaf, to find employment. Dering felt that there was a huge gap in the market in the provision of specialist employment [...]
Mon, Feb 15 2010

GAGGING
The Rebuttal Politicians have really thick skins. They have to. They are subject to all sorts of criticism. Not only that they are often  symbols of fun. Caricatures of them are drawn that over emphasise parts of their bodies. Hence John Howard is often drawn as a short man with rubber lips and hugely bushy eyebrows. These [...]
Sat, Feb 13 2010

From Little Things Like Us, Big Things Can Grow. [ACTION ON...
The Rebuttal The recent Captioned Cinema Exemption protest has stirred a huge response. The hard work of Deaf Australia and Deafness Forum promoting cinema access was mocked by the cinema chains who offered us a pittance in return and claimed they were being “generous”. So generous in fact, we were not allowed to make a complaint [...]
Thu, Feb 11 2010

From Little Things Like Us, Big Things Can Grow.
The Rebuttal Not long ago, we celebrated Australia Day. Sure Australia has its problems but generally speaking, we do live in a lucky country, free from civil war and a functioning democracy. Our attitude of giving people a fair go is legendary. Unfortunately this is not always put into practice and we are seeing an example of [...]
Thu, Feb 11 2010

Diary of a Coda by Aden Kerridge Aged 12 .. pretending to...
The Rebuttal Dear diary, Today we went to the doctors for my general check up, we waited for the interpreter to come in to the waiting room. When she arrived her and daddy started to have a chat with the interpreter, apparently it was funny cause they both started laughing quite loudly in the waiting room, how embarrassing that [...]
Fri, Jan 22 2010

Diary of a CODA – By Aden Kerridge, aged 12
The Rebuttal 19/1/10 Dear diary, Today we went to the park, we went with mummy and daddy, I was really excited about going there, the slide and the swings are really really good fun. When we got there dad accidently hit his door on a BMW leaving a small dent in the door. The rich man who owned the BMW [...]
Tue, Jan 19 2010

Fossils!
The Rebuttal In terms of disability legislation and attitudes Australia television and film media is a fossil. In fact should a fossil come to life it most likely would provide better access than our media institutions. Deaf and vision impaired Australians number a sizable proportion of Australia's population. Readers of The Rebuttal will know that we believe [...]
Mon, Jan 18 2010