Winter 2005
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Mark shows off his Australia T-shirt after delivering the keynote speech at Australia’s Deaf-Blind conference
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Mark Landreneau Delivers Keynote Speech at Australia’s Seventh National Deaf-Blind Conference
Last July, Mark Landreneau, government affairs specialist, traveled to Melbourne, Australia to speak at their seventh national Deaf-Blind conference. “I presented the keynote speech to an audience that was both Deaf-Blind people and professionals working with Deaf-Blind people,” he reports. The conference was attended by people from throughout the South Pacific. “There were people from New Zealand, the Pacific Islands, Singapore, India. Being around such diversity was a learning experience. There was an underlying sense of respect for each other. It made it really enjoyable.”
The theme was Deaf-Blind and Moving On. “Moving on meaning getting through barriers and the creative problem solving that needs to go on to get through those barriers, whether it’s informational access or other structural barriers,” Mark explains.
Mark was born with Usher syndrome, one of the leading causes of deaf-blindness. He is Deaf with tunnel vision. As the keynote speaker at the conference, he shared his own experiences encountering barriers and “moving on” by overcoming them.
“As a young child, I was in a school that functioned completely through finger-spelling. So I did not have access to education. It wasn’t until I went to school with full signing that I was really able to learn,” he recalls. “Another example [of barriers] is when someone is blind attending a conference and the materials are not available in the format they need. The conference is not accessible to them. The conference shouldn’t go on. Everyone needs to be able to participate.”
Mark’s speech focused on building community. “What I talked about was the idea of community, like the foundation of a house. If the foundation of the house isn’t strong, then the house won’t stand. There are fundamental structures that need to be in place for the house to stand.” He continues, “Some of the fundamental structures I’m talking about are transportation, interpreters with the skills to work with Deaf-Blind people, peer supports, work opportunities. If you don’t have any one of these fundamental supports, then you can’t have a community.”
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Mark pets a koala at the Healsville Sanctuary; Mark poses with family and friends: (left to right) Marthalee Galeota, Dennis Martin, Mark Landreneau, Richard Howell, Heather Lawson
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Besides delivering the keynote address, Mark participated in a number of other sessions for the rest of the conference, including a panel on Deaf-Blind culture, a presentation on technology, and a support group for people with Usher syndrome. “A couple people at the support group had been to [the Seattle Lighthouse Deaf-Blind retreat] and people were very interested and excited about setting one up in Australia. We spent two hours talking about how the Seabeck retreat is organized and set up.”
Mark, whose native language is American Sign Language (ASL), used interpreters to communicate while at the conference. “In Australia, the sign language is completely different. It’s called Auslan,” he points out. “In terms of Auslan, I didn’t understand a darn thing. I worked with interpreters. The interpreter would translate Auslan into English and then another interpreter would translate English into ASL.”
“Communication was hysterical,” Mark exclaims. “For instance, the U.S. sign for Deaf is the Australian sign for hearing...their sign for American is the ASL sign for dirty.” He adds, “The good thing about it was it made me more compassionate towards people who are learning finger-spelling.”
Mark was happy to see the successes of the Australian Deaf-Blind community first-hand. “What was surprising to me was how much they already know. They knew about lighting, contrasting backgrounds. They were very good at setting up an environment [to be accessible.]”
“The philosophy in Australia is one of universal design so everyone can use it,” he observes. “They have tactile trails for guiding canes. For instance, the train station [in the U.S.] -- it’s a big open space, basically a blind person’s nightmare. In the Australian train station, they have trailing paths everywhere. There are a lot of different tactile trail guides available with lots of different colors for contrast. In this train station, it would be a breeze to find your way completely independently.”
Mark says that he was especially impressed by the amount of thought that had gone into accessibility design. “For example, when you’re at an alley [in the U.S.], you don’t know that; as opposed to when you are at a curb and you can feel that with your cane. In Australia, there are markers by alleys. It’s good because there are a lot of alleys there and a lot of cars drive through.”
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Mark pets a koala at the Healsville Sanctuary
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Mark had time to do some sight-seeing around Melbourne. “They have the largest tram system in the world. Traffic was a little wild,” he remarks. He also visited animal sanctuaries housing koalas, platypuses, “and of course, kangaroos.” He remembers that “they had different preserved animals for people to feel. Australia is famous for its unusual animals, so this way you can feel and find out about the animals.”
“The level of detail was outstanding,” Mark declares. “It’s interesting; they’ve recognized the same things we have.” He concludes, “I was surprised and pleased by how well things are going in Australia.”
Interpretation note: Mark’s comments were translated from his native language, American Sign Language (ASL), and translated into English by an interpreter fluent in ASL and proficient in close-visual interpretation for Deaf-Blind people with tunnel vision.
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