Mojo Mathers made history on Wednesday, when she delivered her maiden speech to Parliament — in sign language. It was an inspirational moment for the entire deaf community. But the elation didn’t last long.
She’s just been told she’ll have to pay $30,000 for electronic note-taking that she needs to do her job. Student Merrin Macleod thinks it’s unbelievable discrimination — in the last three months of 2011 Parliamentary Services paid $3.1 million for MPs’ travel and accommodation perks alone, yet it’s refusing to support Mojo Mathers’ participation in Parliament.
Merrin’s started a Change.org petition calling on Speaker Lockwood Smith to grant the funding immediately. The issue is attracting intense media attention, and the Speaker’s refusal is being condemned as discrimination against the hearing impaired. If thousands join Merrin’s petition now, while the Speaker is under the spotlight, he’ll have no choice but to listen.
This week should have been a triumph for Mojo Mathers and the deaf community — a powerful symbol of progress for a community that has often been marginalised in public life. But the Parliament’s refusal is putting that progress in jeopardy.
Mojo Mathers says the case would set a “dangerous precedent” in a system still weighted against people with hearing impairments and other disabilities. Funding the note-taking will drain her office budget — she’s essentially being asked to choose between fully representing her party and paying to participate in Parliament.
And the issue doesn’t end with Mojo Mathers. Electronic note-taking would eventually lead to the captioning of television coverage — enabling 700,000 hearing impaired people in New Zealand to access the Parliament they pay and vote for. Ensuring she’s supported by Parliament would be a powerful gesture towards equal access and opportunity for every one of these 700,000 people.
…I will practice calmly naming my thoughts and feelings to the people I interact with. Instead of trying to ‘ show’ people how I feel and what I think in indirect ways, I will practice letting people know directly and respectfully with words. This week, whenever I notice I am having an emotional response to something, whether pleasant or unpleasant, I will practice saying to the people I am with, ‘ I notice myself feeling/thinking x,y,z when you say/do x,y,z.’ Depending on the what I am expressing and who I am with, sometimes I might need to wait for or create a private moment to express myself fully. But this week I will practice naming what I can, when I can. So if it isn’ t the right moment to talk about something at the time, but I have more to say on the matter, I can practice naming that to the person I am with – “I have some more thoughts about this and would like to talk to you about it privately sometime.” By naming positive thoughts and feelings to the people I am with I share and multiple the positive experiences I am having. By naming distressing thoughts and feelings to the people I am with I can reduce the physical signs of distress and access support, comfort and alternative perspectives. This week I will practice naming both sides of my experience to others. Often, saying something out loud to another person is just the thing we need to take the sting out of a bad moment or remember a meaningful one. If I find this kind of thing difficult or anxiety producing, I will start out really small with naming only positive reactions to people I am familiar with and then slowly expand out from there. As I move through the week, I will reflect on what happens within me when I name my experiences and what happens around me when I name my experiences. I will use the insights gained from my reflection, to help me adapt the way I name things to others in different situations. Once I am comfortable naming everyday thoughts to other people, I will add this to my 
