Deaf and Blind - Being Me Heather

Short film project: Meet the Deaf woman who had to learn how to live again after going blind.

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Heather Lawson is Deaf and Blind. She's been through periods of extreme loneliness and isolation, but by becoming independent through orientation and mobility training has helped her to be heard in a world she once felt she wasn’t part of. Here's the video with closed captions.

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Heather Lawson was born Deaf. She grew up in Melbourne with the impairment and coped well with the reality of relying on her sight to be able to socialise and communicate.

"I am Deaf-Blind. But I was born Deaf. Then I grew up deaf. I coped with that well. I had vision. Later on when I was a teenager around 13-14, I slowly lost my sight and I had tunnel vision," she said.

"When I was deaf, I had vision, so I could socialise. I was a really happy girl, involved in activities. I could see other people's signing.

"As I lost my sight it impacted on my life. I was frightened. I felt alone. Because at that time, I didn't have any skills. I had to learn everything again."

But then she also lost her sight, to the point of having tunnel vision, leaving her "frightened" and "alone".

Heather told Channel 10's The Project the loss of another crucial sense meant she had lost the skills she relied on to live and was forced to learn how to function again.

She now relies on a language known as Tactile Auslan -- a system of communication where a Deaf-Blind individual places their hands over the hands of an interpreter as they use sign language, in order to be able to feel the movements and read what they're saying.

She told The Project this unique form of communication has become the way she now lives her life and manages to maintain a 30-year friendship with another Deaf-Blind person, Michelle Stephens.

Unlike Heather, Michelle grew up with minimal sight due to a premature birth and lost her hearing during her 30s as a result of childhood ear infections.

She was an early recipient of a cochlear implant and when her remaining hearing faded, she too had to learn the skills of life once again -- including her pet hobby in playing the piano.

"At first it was really devastating. I naturally thought that I would never, ever be able to play the piano again," she said.

Michelle also said her friendship with Heather grew around their training to re-learn communication techniques. Now they support each other through the good and bad days they experience using new technologies such as Braille display text and email.

"We became friends and we used to catch up and do training together and I used to go to her house a few times. We do have good and bad days but we support each other," she said.

"Heather and I work very closely together. For instance, we're always texting each other about something."

Both Heather and Michelle were also the creators of an immersive performance that was featured in the Sydney Festival in January called Imagined Touch. The event required attendees to wear goggles and headphones that restricted light and sound in order to experience life as a Deaf-Blind individual.

SOURCE - The Huffington Post

Video Credit: Attitude

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UK Man Tried To Rape Deaf-Blind Grandmother

A burglar man, 25, who tried to rape Deaf and Blind 94-year-old grandmother after breaking into her home is caged for 14 years.

GRANTHAM, UK -- The Sun: A burglar who was caught in the act of trying to rape a Deaf-Blind 94-year-old woman has been jailed for 14 years.

Gregory Willis, 25, forced his way into the house where his victim was living out her final months with relatives - who found the sicko kneeling on her bed with no trousers on.

The great-grandmother, who was so frail she was unable to communicate, was naked from the waist down after Willis had pulled down her pyjamas and bedclothes.

She was only spared an even worse ordeal after members of her family discovered the front door open and went to investigate.

They checked on the victim and were horrified to discover Willis on her bed in Grantham, Lincs, last August.

Judge John Pini QC said as he sent dad-of-five Willis to jail: “The circumstances of this case are as deeply shocking, horrifying and appalling as could possibly be imagined.

“The victim is 94 years of age. She had not long before this left a nursing home to be cared for in a safe, loving environment for the remaining time of her life.

“She was registered blind, hard of hearing, had no short term memory, had poor balance and was doubly incontinent. She could not communicate.

“She was as frail and vulnerable as it is possible to be.”

The victim died four months after the break-in but a jury heard her death was not connected to the attempted rape.

Jonathan Straw, prosecuting, said it happened at a get together of relatives including the victim’s granddaughter and great grandchildren.

He said the old lady was asleep in her room while other family members chatted in a back room.

He told Lincoln crown court: “There came a point when they noticed that the front door to the house was open. Immediately they were concerned.

“They went into the living room and there they saw this defendant in the room. His trousers were removed. He had his boxer shorts on and his penis exposed.

“The victim was in bed, The covers had been pulled back and her pyjama bottoms had been pulled off.

“Had he not been disturbed, as mercifully he was, he was going to rape that 94-year-old lady in that bed.”

Willis was ordered out of the house but soon afterwards returned and knocked on the door saying something about visiting his aunt’s home.

The family called police and Willis was detained nearby. He had the key to the family’s car on him.

Willis denied attempted rape but was found guilty by the jury. He had earlier admitted burglary.

He said although he had no memory of what happened he would never have committed such an horrific offence.

Mark Watson, mitigating, said Willis apologised to the victim and her family for what he did.

He said: “He was plainly under the influence of something.

“There is nothing about the offence that he can remember. It may be due to alcohol but it may be that he is unable to bring himself to believe what happened.”

After the case, the victim’s son-in-law said the family now wanted to try to put the “horrific episode” behind them.

He said: “She was a very frail person asleep in bed who had already entered the end of life phase.

“We don’t know how much of what happened registered with her - we deliberately didn’t raise it with her afterwards and we just have to hope she didn’t suffer in any way.”

He added: “I was the only adult male in the house at the time and when I confronted him the adrenaline took over and I didn’t initially appreciate what was happening.

“Thankfully he ran away without becoming violent and it was only later that the gravity of what he was about to do hit me.”

SOURCE - The Sun