I went to the deaf club and saw the woman who had got the office job because the other deaf person had turned it down. Her British Sign Language was not excellent, just all right, while the other social worker was absolutely useless. When I went to the deaf club I took all the letters I had received from the Citizens’ Advice Bureau and Job Centre and told her of my situation. I asked her if she could call a few solicitors for me as I wanted to sue the Government. She said I could come to the deaf centre or the office where she worked and I would have to fill in some more forms. These were for the Government to make checks on how many people the social workers were working with. Why doesn’t the Government check how many social workers can use level three British Sign Language and have deaf awareness training and knowledge of different degrees of deafness?
She made four calls to solicitors, but they all said they were not licensed. One of them even said we should get in touch with the welfare officers. The social worker did say she would have to be careful not to make too many phone calls, as it would cost too much money and the manager would not like it. I was beginning to realise that I would not be eligible for legal aid. The social worker did not tell me that, I had to learn it myself. Again I wondered what I was going to do. I felt so alone in the world and tried to keep telling myself not to give up.
I looked on the internet and found the Royal Association for the deaf. The solicitor himself was deaf. I hoped it would be a help as a deaf solicitor would have a greater understanding of what I was going through. I made an appointment on Skype, which I was using for the first time. I had to go out and buy a camera to put it on top of my computer and we would communicate through using British Sign Language. The only advice he gave me was that it had to be within the last six months. That was it, and it lasted less than 30 minutes. However I sent him all the papers the next day.
While I was waiting to hear from the solicitor I told the social worker I could not carry on going to the Job Centre. She said she would come with me to see the manager, but I wondered if it would make difference. I emailed her my National Insurance number. She was supposed to make an appointment with the manager at the Job Centre and get back to me with the date of an appointment for all of us to go together, but I never got a reply.
I got more distressed and could not sleep very well. I waited for three weeks and went back to the deaf club to see the social worker. The other social worker told me she was off sick, so that never happened and I never saw her again. While I was waiting to hear from the solicitor I received by email from the EASS, Equality Advisory and Support Service, which offered an action plan with a view to resolving my issues informally without the stress of going to court or a tribunal.
Beth, my son’s girlfriend, rang them on my behalf and they explained that I would need to have a meeting with the manager and then get back to them with the outcome of the meeting in writing. I then asked my sister to type a letter and send it to the manager at the Job Centre, explaining about the EASS. I had to wait for over two weeks. In the end my sister went to the Job Centre and handed in the letter. A few days later I got a letter of an appointment to see the manager (the same one who had looked at my ears). I was assertive when I put my points across and listed the problems and I even told him about the Disability Employment Adviser. He said my problem was dated and that I could not have a Disability Employment Adviser when I was in a work programme. So that was a waste of time once again.
I didn’t get a reply from my solicitor for ages, and only then because the Equality Advisory and Support Service got in touch with my solicitor. He then sent me an email to ask how the meeting went. When I emailed back I waited for almost a year to hear from the solicitor. I was getting very stressed and frustrated and unable to sleep. In the end I decided to send several emails to the solicitor, because I still had to attend the Job Centre and the manager I was meeting with was there watching me to make sure that interpreter was present every time I attended. Only because of the Equity Act 2010 and the EASS had I had an interpreter present when I went with my sister. All I got was an automatic response to say he was out of the office, or another time because he was on holiday or ill. I did not think he was capable of doing his job probably and was not professional. I then sent him another email to say that I wanted to make a complaint to his manager. He was quick in replying and was very apologetic. He agreed that he had been neglecting me and promised to look into it and send me a form to fill in for legal aid for the deaf, which I got next day. I filled it in straight away and posted it, then sent recorded delivery.
I waited and waited for a response. In the end I got fed up and emailed a complaint letter straight to his manager. She promised to look into it and a few days later she emailed to apologize and admit that I was right. She gave me the name of a man who might be able to help on video which I could watch in British Sign Language. I did so, but the after the first few words I lost interested and turned it off. That was it - I never got any help from them.
I don’t seem to have any rights. There isn’t any law. Where was my voice? I didn’t have one! To this day everyone has got away with it. To the people in the Job Centre, it’s just another day in the office. In my opinion they are all uneducated, untrained, unlearned, unqualified, unintelligent, inexperienced and ignorant.
Remember that lady at the careers office? The Government claimed, ‘We have backed schemes that can help while raising awareness for initiatives and challenging stereotypes about people with disabilities to ensure that everyone has a fair chance of working’. The government also claimed that a Disability Employment Adviser can help you find job or gain new skills. They can also refer you to a specialist work psychologist or carry out employment assessment, asking about your skills and experiences. I have never had any of that. I don’t think they are capable of offering the help I so desperately needed.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Adventures away from home
After I had had my flashing alarm clock for some time, the wires at the back became loose. I knew I would have to return it to the social worker and ask for a replacement. I was not very happy about doing this but I needed it for work on Tuesday mornings. I walked into the deaf centre and met the manager of the social workers for the deaf for the first time and gave her the clock and said it was broken and I needed it for work. I showed her where the wires were loose and she said to leave it with her and she would get in touch when a new one arrived. A week later I received a letter to say that she would be visiting me to bring it (I did not want her to visit me at my house - I wanted to go back to the deaf centre to pick it up myself, which would only have taken me five minutes). She came in and said I had a nice house and told me a bit about her family life. To be honest I was not interested. Then she gave me a thick form for me to fill in. I asked her where my alarm clock was and she said ‘I am not here for that’. I said ’Yes you are’ and showed her the letter. She did not know what to say.
As I was about to fill in the form she took it from me and said she would do it for me as it was too long and difficult for me to fill in. I immediately disliked her so much that when it was finished I couldn’t wait for her to leave. I then said I would go to pick up the clock myself next week at the deaf centre. That’s what I did, and I never saw her again. To be honest I don’t think she was doing her job properly.
I had continued to keep in touch with my friend Joan over the years by writing letters. She had got married, had two daughters and then divorced. I briefly met her father when we went for a drink one afternoon at a pub. He was ill with cancer at that time and she was looking after him. She would do his weekly food shopping for him every Friday and bring it to his flat. In the end he was taken to hospital for an operation, but he died from a weak heart.
Her brother Kieran was living in Australia. One night when he had been out drinking he went to the cashpoint, and on the way back fell and slipped on to the railway line and was killed by a train. Joan and her sisters believe he was robbed and pushed on to the
track. They were not even given a chance to go to his funeral as his wife would not delay it to give them a chance to get there. My heart went out to poor Joan. I have two brothers myself and I don’t know what I would do if that happened to me.
We stopped writing to each other and instead started to use the mobile phone and the internet on MSN. Joan asked me if I would be interested in going to the reunion in Manchester, where I could stay at her house for the weekend. I thought it would be a good opportunity to see her and everyone else from St John’s school Boston Spa. I went to the railway station with pen and paper to ask the lady to book a train and made sure I got a train straight from where I lived to Manchester without having to change. I also had to make sure I sat facing the digital display in the carriage as I couldn’t hear the announcements. All the way I knew exactly where I was. It was wonderful to see Joan after three hours’ travelling. We hugged for a quite a while.
Joan and I chatted till two in the morning! We had so much news to catch up on. She phoned my sons for me to see if they were OK. On the Friday night we went to the pub and we got a take away, then talked again into the early hours of the morning - we went to bed at three o’clock!
The dance was an opportunity for us to dress up to the nines. When we arrived at the hotel we recognised so many people from our school. It was wonderful and brought back fond memories of when we were all at school. All night we danced and drank. We ate a three-course meal and stayed up until almost four o’clock in the morning! So many of us have changed over the years! So many of us weren’t getting any younger! We had fabulous time dancing and chattering for the whole weekend, and it went so quickly. Joan and I would have liked to have stayed longer!
Back at Manchester railway station I was confused by the directions I was given and could not find my platform. Fortunately I found it in the end. I kept checking my ticket to make sure it was the correct time and platform, and I kept looking down the track to make sure I got the right train. Luckily I found a seat. The train didn’t leave straight away, and we had to wait for 15 minutes. It was packed, with many people standing, and I was unable to see out of the windows on my right, only the one where I was sitting. More importantly, I could not see the digital display.
The train remained packed until we arrived in Leeds. About half an hour before we arrived in York I smelled something unpleasant – there was sick all over the floor! Everyone started to get off, and I thought hang on, I paid to travel on only one train straight through. I started to panic a little. I asked the conductor and he told me it was for health and safety reasons! What was I going to do now? Was I going to have to wait around? It was no help if the loudspeaker was going to make announcements for the next train or a different platform.
While everyone was waiting I could see some cleaners arriving to clean up the sick, and while I was waiting I noticed one lady’s case had a tag saying Thornaby, the station before the one where I would get off. I kept a watchful eye on that case and waited to see which train the lady would get on.
We were kept waiting for half an hour. We were finally allowed back on to the same train, and there was the lady with the case. At last I could get home.
My son Philip picked me up, but he was very quiet and only said ‘Hello, did you have a good time?’ When we arrived home there were two police officers there. I was shocked, but I realised why Philip had not said anything about it.
The officers spoke to me, but I told them I was deaf. Jamie was too upset to help me so there was a breakdown in communication. One of them handed me a written statement, then asked me to sign it. It was obvious they didn’t have a clue how to co-operate with a deaf person. It seemed my son was upset because he had been out with his friends when he had got jumped by four boys for his mobile phone.
This all happened in one day. It was so frustrating dealing with so many communication breakdowns on the train and then with the police officers.
I received a letter about a week or so later asking me to attend court. The boys were appearing charged with stealing Jamie’s phone, but because he was under sixteen I was asked to go. I asked my father to call them and explain that I was unable to attend, and they suggested that he should go in my place. I was not happy about that. My father refused. He said, ‘What if I go and the young lads see me in the street, I could get attacked?’ I agreed, and in the end Philip went instead.
I was not impressed. However Jamie was out with his friend before the court case and the same three lads saw him, but he ran off before anything happened, so my father was right not go. The police officers who took Jamie’s statement could have sorted this out themselves and explained to us what might happen.
I continued to enjoy going for a run and kept my weight the same. I still love going for a three or four-mile run whenever I can. I do it most days, because it makes me feel good and I find it therapeutic, especially when it is warm and not too windy, but I’m still apprehensive of the dogs!
One sunny afternoon on my run, as I was coming to the path leading around the park, I noticed an Asian man under a tree holding his mobile phone and another Asian walking very slowly down the path, also using a mobile. I thought nothing of it and kept on running for about couple of minutes. Then I saw a white man who was also talking on a mobile. I thought it was strange, but dismissed it as coincidence. However on my second circuit the Asian man was alone and still under the same tree, still holding his mobile and looking at me.
I got a bit suspicious, but kept on running. The next time he was still there, but this time he was actually using his mobile phone and still looking at me. I started to feel a bit uncomfortable. The next time he was not there under the tree and I thought I was being silly. But as I went for my last run round I noticed him again, this time on the other side of the park. He was hiding behind a tree and there were two young boys playing with their bikes nearby.
The Asian man kept looking for me, then went and hid behind the tree. I did not know whether to turn around and go home or go to the fire station on the other side of the park to ask them to call the police, but I decided to keep on running as fast as I could as I was about to finish and go home.
As I ran, I took out a small alarm which I had in my pocket. It can make a loud sound to gain people’s attention if I pull off a ring. I could see a woman pushing a child in a pushchair walking towards me and I felt a bit afraid, but I kept on running. Then I looked quickly over out of the corner of my eye to see the Asian man naked and whacking his penis!
I was shocked, but I kept on running. When I got home I was walking around the house, unsure of what to do next. I decided not to get in touch with the police as I did not want to be kept waiting for hours and the thought of trying to communicate with them with their lack of understanding put me off. But I did not sleep for a week.
Jamie and his then girlfriend Jenna came to visit me and I told him what had happened at the park. Jenna, who worked at the police station, said I should have reported it to the police straight away, and she said she would mention it when she went back to work. I did get text message that they wanted to interview me, but I waited and waited and it never happened.
One night I came home from work to find my house had been burgled. It wasn’t the first time. It was the most horrible feeling in the world. The place was upside down and all our clothes were on the floor and all the drawers were open. Philip’s computer games had been stolen and so had my jewels and money.
I did not want to call the police as I have no faith in them, but Philip was clearly upset. He called Jamie and my sister and they came to the house. We waited for three hours for the police and when they arrived I felt as if I was invisible to them. Again I got the ‘never seen a deaf person before’ look. I found them extremely unhelpful and so ignorant because they did not even ask me any questions. It was my house, and I was so upset.
One of the officers eventually asked me if I wanted to go to a victim support group, but I could not understand him. Jenna explained it to me about
the victim support group and asked if an interpreter would help. It would have helped if they had known how to arrange the support and help I needed.
Philip was later asked to go to the police station to make a statement, but they never asked me to go. They asked Philip if I was blind! Nothing came out of it.
Another time I had problems with the police was when Philip was 18 and working at Marks & Spencers part time while he was at college. He was asked to fetch an M&S trolley from a nearby field near the fire station, and when he got to the field to pick up the trolley he was confronted by a drug dealer demanding money, and threatened with a knife and a syringe supposed to be full of Aids-infected blood. He did not have any money, so he ran as fast as he could, although he found it difficult to run because of his asthma. He managed to get to a house and asked the man to call the police. This was around 4 pm. When he came home he was upset and went straight upstairs.
We didn’t see the police till midnight, and again they were very unhelpful and giving me the ‘never seen a deaf person before’ look. I didn’t feel comfortable wearing my dressing grown and I wanted to support my son, for he had had a distressing and traumatic experience. Philip had to wake me up nine hours later to ask me to make a statement, but I didn’t want him to have to go through those experiences. I wanted to say a million things and deliver some angry words, but I couldn’t. I had to stand up for my rights and for my son.
The police told my son that they thought they knew who the person was and said Philip was lucky, because it could have been much worse! I hoped and prayed it would never happen again and I would never have to ask for the police.
At The start of the credit crunch in 2008, Woolworths was the first shop to close and more were to follow. During the recession I started to worry about my job because the government were making cuts within the councils. The deaf centre was not affected at first, and but with so many benefits being cut it did not help the students and those who were receiving tax credits were also affected. Their benefit cuts meant students would not be able to attend the classes, which could affect my three classes. The council representatives promised to listen to us and they set up a meeting at the deaf centre which was packed with both deaf and hearing people, and the registered qualified interpreter was there.
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