Former Toronto MPP and disabilities activist Gary Malkowski came to Carleton on Nov. 5 to talk to faculty and students about ableism and audism.
The presentation was in sign language with interpreters present to translate for the audience.
The event, “Anti-Ableism and Anti-Audism,” aimed to inform attendees about discrimination against people with disabilities and the deaf community.
Ableism is defined as the discrimination against people with disabilities, while audism is the discrimination of people in the deaf community.
Malkowski said he was the first member of a parliamentary council in the world to speak sign language as a main form of communication.
Malkowski opened the presentation with a basic question: why does our culture believe people with disabilities are not able to do things everyone else can?
Canadian society has seen effective mobilization for women’s rights, anti-racism, and LGBTQ rights, but many Canadians still have a negative view of those with disabilities, he said.
“Now it’s time for the disability movement to come,” Malkowski said.
“Terminology is very important. Once you attach a label to someone it can be very dangerous.”
Malkowski said when he was younger, his school labelled him as “retarded” and put him in a different class because he could not understand his teachers.
Once he met a teacher who knew sign language, he said that all changed. It took 10 years to get Malkowski removed from the special education class.
Malkowski highlighted some major examples of the effects deaf people have had on the world. The creator of the Internet, Vinton Cerf, was hard of hearing, and Thomas Edison, creator of the light bulb, was deaf.
“People need to realize just because I’m deaf, I’m not broken, I’m not less,” said Chantal Montano, a second-year linguistics student who attended the event.
“Deafness is a culture, not a disability,” said Montano. “When I was looking for an apartment, I found a great place and when the land lady found out I was deaf she was like, ‘oh’ and I could see her hesitating. That stuff does happen.”
Malksowski said deaf culture can bring new things forward and make a positive impact, the same way the francophone community can.
“We need to shift our attitudes and look at it in a re-framed light for deaf gain,” he said.
The event was organized by the School of Linguistics and Language Studies, which offers classes in American Sign Language.
“We need more of these lectures, not in small groups, in public forums everywhere,” Montano said. “People need to realize this stuff.”
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