John Kamitsis: Working to break down barriers for deaf people in Preston during the pandemic

Covid has brought many challenges for everyone in the UK and indeed the world, none more so than the deaf community.

So I thought I’d share a little bit about the challenges I have faced, the impact it has had and how I’ve worked to help others survive Covid times.

I am profoundly deaf man. I have a deaf partner, a dog, a full time job, and a happy busy life.

Before Covid (BC) I took many things for granted, I speak very clearly and can lip-read with the best of them, so never really struggled with day to day life, communicating with the hearing world (or as I like to call them.. the signing impaired) was something I never had to worry about.

Shopping, easy. Holidays abroad to my beloved Disney, easy. Life was good. Then came a brutal wake up call. That wake up call was called face masks.

All of a sudden communication was cut off, I became more deaf than I even realised I could be. Of course I could still talk to people and let them know what I wanted, but had no way of knowing how to receive information, to get answers to my questions/enquiries, masks became mandatory and the masses refused to remove them even to facilitate communication. The signing impaired world was no longer my world…

I knew there was a type of flu that was taking over, but no interpreters provided by our government so no access to the news, the daily updates, the rules.

The hysteria was spreading, bad news and negatives were the one thing shared or talked about. Maybe not being able to hear it all was a blessing in disguise after all.

However, me being me, I knew I had to stand up to the discrimination and during this research period, found a charity called Disability Equality North West (DENW). I soon found myself applying for a job and standing up to make a change. DENW secured funding from the lottery to set up a project that aims to support deaf and hard of hearing people through the struggles they are facing because of Covid.

Everything becoming online overnight, only being able to access doctors via a telephone call and little to no understanding or empathy for those that couldn’t use a telephone for communication.

With support from access to work, I have a team of interpreters that I work with Monday to Friday, and slowly we and the DENW family are helping people to break down the barriers. Helping people to access their information, taking back control, challenging discrimination and educating the masses along the way. We even have a team (including myself) of hate crime ambassadors.

Right now this service from DENW is only available in Preston and it’s surrounding areas, however, with continued evidence for the project gathering, hopefully it will soon expand.

I know there will be other areas doing similar work, and I would love to get in touch to be able to signpost people when needed. But most of all, I want people to know the all is not lost because of a pandemic, there is hope and with the right support anything is possible.

I would love to find the people that need us most, the people that don’t have access to technology, don’t have support in place, because maybe, like me, they never thought they would be in this position. So please, if you know someone that is deaf or hard of hearing and needs help, let them know that we are out there, that not only CAN we help, but that we really WANT to help them.

No one should have to suffer alone ever, but especially through a pandemic when mental health is being battered from all angles. People should know that they are not alone, there are people battling for their rights all the time and by sending a quick text or email, we can make them priority in a world that has forgotten so many.

Thank you for taking the time to read a little about my story, I hope that in some way we can work together to help as many people as possible.

John Kamitsis is a Link Worker for Deaf/Hard of Hearing at Disability Equality (North West) Ltd