Charlie’s message loud and clear – sign up to support deaf people
In a world full of sound, imagine living in silence. About 3.6 million Australians have some level of hearing loss. During International Week of Deaf People (20-26 September), Salvos Online journalist LERISSE SMITH spoke with Major Charlie Jacobsen from Melbourne’s The Well Chapel about his advocacy for the deaf and hard of hearing and his own journey with auditory loss.
Charlie Jacobsen loves life.
He enjoys nothing better than spending quality time with his family and his church community at The Well at St Kilda Chapel, having a cuppa with mates, and watching action, comedy and detective movies with captions.
Charlie is also deaf, known as ‘Little d’ (born hearing), supporting those who are deaf but who can still hear with powerful hearing aids and who can speak orally.
And with the theme for this year’s International Week of Deaf People being ‘Sign Up for Sign Language Rights’, The Well’s Community Development Officer is passionate about the community learning sign language and being an ally for people with complete and partial hearing loss.
“Sometimes people look at Deaf people and think they are dumb, they are stupid,” he explains.
“But you would be very surprised as to how many deaf people are CEOs, how many people are big in sport. The medical profession needs to stop using the word ‘impaired’ because deaf people and those hard of hearing are not broken people. They don’t see themselves as broken. The book Breaking the Sound Barriersdetails nine success stories that have been written by Julie Postance and published by Deaf Children Australia.
“Deaf people have human rights as well, and I would really like to see no more ‘Audism’ – a belief that the ability to hear makes one superior to those without hearing – and discrimination of deaf people, and no more Surdophobia, which is a fear of deaf people.”
The World Federation of the Deaf, which oversees the International Week of Deaf People, is focusing on human rights to raise awareness about the challenges and discrimination that Deaf individuals and hard-of-hearing people experience in society.
This year, the main aim of the international event has been to unite the world, its citizens and societies by shining a light on the importance of sign languages and the unity generated by sign languages.
Locally, Charlie has been involved in supporting athletes from the recent 2024 Asia Pacific Deaf Basketball championships who held their competitions in Melbourne as part of the international week commemorations and promoting inclusivity in society. See separate story here.
Celebrating the Deaf culture and its history is all-important for Charlie, plus advocating for the rights of the deaf community and that they have a voice – a signed voice, a visual voice.
A further priority is promoting inclusivity and spreading the message that people can learn Auslan [the main Australian sign language used] to communicate with those who have hearing loss in their communities.
“I think bringing Auslan as a second language in every school would be great, but it would have to be taught by Deaf people because it’s their native language,” he said. “They know how to express it and how to present it correctly.”
Charlie knows firsthand the critical importance of sign language and feeling included in society with his own journey of genetic deafness and hard of hearing in his immediate and extended family.
Born to a Deaf father and a hearing mother, he also had a brother and sister who are hard of hearing and now use Cochlear to hear, whilst some extended family members have had complete or partial hearing loss too. Tragically, Charlie’s great-grandmother passed away while crossing railway tracks as she did not hear the warnings of a quick train coming.
When reflecting on how his own hearing loss occurred, Charlie recalled having “perfect hearing” until age 30, when suddenly, he realised his ability to hear started to decline. This was especially noticeable after his wife noted her husband misunderstanding phone calls and being unable to hear entire conversations clearly.
It was to be the start of his journey into understanding his condition – and a time of great revelation.
“It made me realise I wasn’t broken,” he says. “I could still do what others thought I couldn’t.”
“I think bringing Auslan as a second language in every school would be great, but it would have to be taught by Deaf people because it’s their native language.”
An unsuccessful ear operation to fully restore his hearing was part of his journey – so, too, facing Audism. He still remembers being out and shopping with his wife when a woman yelled at him for not hearing her as she stood behind Charlie, unbeknownst to him.
“When I explained my hearing loss to the lady in the shops and said sorry, she just told me to clean out my ears,” he said.
With Charlie and his wife having three children, it is unknown whether they will experience a level of hearing loss. However, being unable to hear without aids and sign language is challenging for the Community Development Officer.
When asked what deafness feels like, his answer was immediate.
“It makes me feel left out,” he remarked. “I struggle to grasp the full context of conversations. It can be frustrating to ask people to repeat themselves, especially when dialects differ.”
Despite these challenges, Charlie commented that he considers himself one of the lucky ones in his family, with a strong drive to help others and promote inclusivity in the community. He has trained volunteers from his local church community on how to best to communicate and understand people who are Deaf and hard of hearing depending on their various needs and to raise awareness of particular challenges they face.
One such example was highlighting that if a church building evacuation occurred in an emergency, Charlie could be sitting at his desk, not knowing that everyone had left the building.
“So that’s one of the things to keep in mind when you work with Deaf and hard-of-hearing people,” he says. “It’s about learning how you can work with them, how you can communicate with them. There are different ways to communicate, which include technology, writing, learning and basic sign language.”
Charlie books Auslan interpreters to come and sign at his church gatherings so he receives the necessary information. He hopes many more people with levels of hearing loss can attend churches across all denominations and not miss out on enjoying sermons, worship and involvement with their church community.
“There is a general lack of understanding often not explaining how to be inclusive to cater for those who are Deaf or hard of hearing,” he said. “The best thing to do is ask them. They know what they need.”
Most Deaf people don’t use their voices while hard-of-hearing individuals do. Some deaf individuals avoid speaking because they can’t hear their own voice or find it difficult to learn to speak. He highlighted that effective communication required people to see their faces and body language, which helped with gestures and expressions.
And technology is a vital component in enhancing the quality of life for those with hearing loss.
“It plays a dramatic, big role,” Charlie said. “It has been big for the Deaf community for many years. Social media is a big thing. Video calls are a big thing because they sign in their video calls. Captions on TV are the best thing. You can also have hearing aids or cochlear ear implants that can hear television through Bluetooth. You can adjust the volume remotely and not affect others in the room.”
Technology further plays a vital role in life-saving devices such as smoke detectors, video security, Doorbells, Apple Watch and baby monitors.
For Charlie’s family, special flashing lights alert them when the smoke alarm or doorbell rings.
“Every time someone rings our doorbell, I’m sure the neighbours think we have we have a disco happening at our house!’ he says with a laugh.
With the world spotlight on Deafness at this time of year, Charlie hopes to see more employment opportunities open up and for employers to set up workstations appropriately so people who are Deaf and hard of hearing can feel included in the workplace.
Additionally, he would love to see visual aids in shops with signing cards for people to know resources are available for the hearing community to buy and utilise to help promote awareness and inclusivity and for public transport to have captions on screens and videos, especially in emergencies.
Ultimately, Charlie hopes that more trained, qualified Auslan interpreters will be available throughout Australia and society will be more inclusive of those who are Deaf and hard of hearing.
“They strive to be included,” he said. “And I am a passionate advocate as an ally for them.”
