Articles

Government rules restricting deaf and hearing impaired people from driving taxis need reviewing, Uber says. The ride hire app, which connects customers with private drivers, has just released an app with new features designed to help drivers with impaired hearing.

The New Zealand team found itself out of its depth in the World Deaf Games soccer tournament, being crushed 18-0 by Netherlands in its opening match on Saturday night at Queen Elizabeth II Park.

Whilst most parents face months of sleepless nights when they bring a new baby home, Jackie and Steven are confronted with the opposite problem of not being able to hear their babies crying.

Three officials of the World Games for the Deaf pause to toast the success of the venture, as teams from more than 30 countries arrive in Christchurch.

Julie-Anne is the new Miss Deaf New Zealand. Coming second-runner up in the Miss Auckland Deaf competition, saw her go through to Miss New Zealand.

Arash Tayebi’s idea to develop sign language avatar technology is personal. And while Kara Technologies is still in the pilot stage, Tayebi hopes the technology will become easier to access as 24/7 teachers or in emergencies.

Friday marks 30 years since the opening of the country’s first marae for Deaf and hard of hearing Māori. Since 1992, Rūaumoko Marae, in West Auckland’s Kelston, has been a place where Deaf students can learn about te ao Māori.

Children Of A Lesser God, a play that tackles the communication problems faced by deaf people, opens at Circa tomorrow night. Suzanne Pollard talks to two of the cast about their roles.

Seven young girls will make their debut at a ball to be held by the Auckland Deaf Society; they will dance the debutante walz without hearing the music.

A Christchurch man has designed an international first for the World Games for the Deaf, designing a visual starter for athletic and swimming events.

So far, four teleprinter phonetype telephones have been installed in the homes of totally deaf people in the Wellington area. They can be hired from the Wellington branch of the New Zealand deaf communications network.

Five young deaf men fundraising for Helenski are touring the North Island in their car to help finance their trip.

For the first time since they met, Pam and Kaz Witko can talk to each other on the telephone… well, it’s not really talking it’s more like writing letters, only a lot faster.

Far North Mayor Moko Tepania may be the best-known Far North face learning NZSL, but he’s in growing company.

Organisers of the Sixteenth World Games for the Deaf are disappointed with the lack of television coverage. The chairman of the organising committee has accused Television New Zealand of doing a "disservice" to the New Zealand public by not providing more coverage of events.

A full page update from The Press, on the results from the World Games for the Deaf - Monday 16 January. N.Z. takes silver in marathon; double points for Italians in cycling; Finland retains volleyball title; Japan dominates; German team has full financial support.

The members of New Zealand deaf team signed into the Ilam games village yesterday. First to put pen to paper was Malcolm Clausen, watched by other members of the men's basketball team.

While NZSL Week runs from May 8-14, young leaders of the Deaf community are continuously advocating for their culture and language in the hearing world every other week of the year.

Deaf Northlander Eddie Hokianga was on a troubled trajectory in life until he got his hands on te reo and connected with his Māori culture. Hokianga (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngā Puhi, Ngāti Porou) and Kim Robinson of Deaf Action New Zealand are delivering a groundbreaking initiative in the form of an eight-week course to be held, ideally, across 20 Northland marae.

New Zealand was passed over in its bid to host the World Deaf Games in 1985 – but not because of any Springbok tour snub, prominent local sports administrator, Mr Alan Barrett, believes.

A production this month of the play Children of a Lesser God in Auckland will feature two deaf actors, Bryan Williams and Sheila Gibbons. And the starring role will be played, for the second time, by Gloss actress Miranda Harcourt.

New Zealand's two deaf education centres will become one next year as Kelston Deaf Education Centre and van Asch Deaf Education Centre merge from Term 3, 2020.

For the first time in their lives, Pam and Kay, who are profoundly deaf, can talk to each other by telephone. The Combined Societies for the Deaf is hoping to get telephone-type equipment in airports, police stations, taxi offices and emergency service switchboards.

"There's still a lot of barriers for deaf people in this country," says Erica, who lost her hearing when she was six months old. "We face all sorts of challenges that hearing people take for granted, such as finding interpreters to help us with schoolwork or meetings at work."

Basketball referees Peter Murray and Peter Downie are quite used to being accused of being blind. This they ignore. Accusations of deafness are a different matter.

An obituary on Margaret Coutts who was "the mother of deaf sports", an active leader and strong positive role-model to younger members of the Deaf community. She was the first female president of the Christchurch Deaf Club, and was awarded a NZ Commemoration Medal for her contributions in 1990.

Turn the light on, so I can hear what you're saying. It's an old line, but a favourite one among us hearing-impaired people, because it points up how we "hear" with our eyes as surely as blind people "see" with their fingers or their ears.

Nearly quarter of a million dollars in sponsorship has been raised for the NZSL dictionary, a joint effort by the University and the New Zealand Association of the Deaf.

Rachel Noble and Donna Allen, both 17 and profoundly deaf, talk about their experiences in education.

Three national records were equalled or passed at the national Deaf Sports Convention meeting held at Mt Smart yesterday (women's 400m, men's shotput, men's 100m relay).

Lower Hutt's Myra Sullivan showing hearing people how to use sign language at a workshop for the deaf held at Wellington College of Education yesterday.

When Manawatu Deaf Society members meet at their clubrooms in Awapuni, they huddle deep in coats and scarves and gloves. Their 22-year-old hall is icebox cold in winter, and members say the difficulty and expense of heating it keeps older society members at home, away from enjoying the society's sociability and events.

This weekend past and present pupils of Onekawa School will be coming together to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Onekawa School Deaf Unit. From March 22 to March 25, ex-pupils and friends of the Onekawa deaf unit will meet in Hawke's Bay to remember their schooling experiences, share stories and visit the site of the old unit.

Results from the New Zealand Deaf Convention's sports being held in Palmerston North during Labour Weekend.

Theresa Newson and Maria Griffiths are completely deaf. They are also students at St Catherine's College, Kilbirnie. Their mothers looked at several schools in the Wellington region because they wanted their daughters to stay at home rather than go to Van Asch.

Some make a fuss, dress up and do it because its fashionable. Others do it for the sport and for the good of their bodies. Peter Barker, who is deaf, is one of the others.

A Deaf woman is calling for airlines and airports to better equip staff to communicate with Deaf and Hard of Hearing travellers after a “terrible experience” returning to New Zealand from Rarotonga that made her feel she was being “treated like a criminal”.

New short film 'The Dining Table' is putting emerging Deaf talent from Aotearoa on to film festival screens. Lucy McKenzie-Bridle,16, a Wellington Girls’ College student, makes her debut in The Dining Table, playing Ana, a Deaf teenager being raised in a hearing family.

New Zealand's first gold medal was won yesterday by a Fielding cyclist, John Ooteman. Aged 28, Ooteman won the 35km time trial event on the Old West Coast Road ahead of 23 other competitors with a time of 51 min 12.13s.

The 1989 "friendly games" are underway. That is the unoffical title given to the Games for the Deaf which the Minister of Health, Mr Caygill, officially opened on Saturday.

Meredith Karim​ was just five months old when she started using NZSL to communicate. She was born a hearing child to deaf parents, often known by the acronym CODA. She says while most people have a voice talking in their heads expressing their thoughts, she visualises hers in NZSL.

Cushla and Brian talk about their lives – being Deaf, their experiences at school, employment, and communication.

Coventry who will contest the 5000 and 10,000 metres and 15-mile modified marathon races, has perhaps the best chance for a medal in the longest event.

The Manawatu Deaf Drama Group (MADEDRA) will present a show at Abbey Theatre, before taking it to Auckland for the Deaf View Conference and eventually, hope to travel overseas.

A visit by a group of Southland students to a marae has highlighted the challenges faced by deaf Māori who want to connect with their culture.

Caroyn Hamlin keeps a keen eye on the opposition while Lindsay Bamford returns a shot during the mixed doubles Badminton competition of the triennial Trans-Tasman Deaf Games at Lincoln College.

Fifty-nine year old Olgerts Rublish was beaten up the other night on his way home from the pub. He didn't go to the police or to a doctor. He just picked himself up and went home to bed. He just wants to know 'why'?

A Porirua school is being heralded as a great example of inclusive education. St Theresa's School in Plimmerton is the focus of a new short documentary by van Asch Deaf Education Centre, which will be used as a resource to show how to effectively integrate deaf education and culture into schools.

A Wellington club for the deaf has started a drive to raise funds to build clubrooms. Club members, many of whom are tradesmen, want to build the clubrooms themselves.

St Dominic's Wing for Deaf Children is alive and well and integrated with St Joseph's School in Feilding, says principal Sister Gemma.

Auckland University's fire drill on Monday left a deaf student feeling forgotten, but could be an opportunity for change, advocates say. Profoundly deaf psychology student Dean Buckley, 21, didn't know about the evacuation until he saw a fire warden yelling at him, minutes after everyone else in his building had fled outside.

Jack and Oliver Leach switch between two languages. Their parents Monica and Stephen Leach are both deaf. "It's awesome because we can be really loud," Oliver said. The brothers who can hear, had grown up as CODA - or Children of Deaf Adults.

The New Zealand Deaf Amateur Sports Association’s annual convention in Wellington at the weekend has attracted 250 entries from New Zealand and Australia to what is fast becoming a major New Zealand sporting event.

New Zealand's first television programme for deaf people will be broadcast nationally from Christchurch next Saturday.

The Auckland indoor bowls team which beat Northland for the 'Ranfurly Shield of indoor bowls'.

Two Auckland sisters are helping deaf people living in isolation connect with others through a cooking class. Yolanda Sutton began the cooking class with her deaf sister Natasha Jumelet after they formed the Deaf Wellbeing Society.

New Government policy on educating disabled children has ended more than three decades of teaching deaf children at St Dominic's in Feilding.

Some good has resulted from the tragic case of deaf man Ivan Curry who was found not guilty after nearly two years in jail for murder, says the Deaf Association.

Nearly 90 Christchurch people have spent the last year training to be interpreters at the World Games for the Deaf, with about 50 deaf people teaching the volunteers their language.

New Zealand's Kevin Lawrence won silver in the World Games for the Deaf marathon yesterday, but had to survive a protest.

In the past 18 months, the NZAD has opened field offices in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington, and hopes soon to establish two more in Nelson and Dunedin.

Members of the New Zealand basketball team practise at the YMCA for their upcoming trip next month to the International Games for the Deaf.

Board member Ava Buzzard, who has been deaf since birth, is excited by the chance to have a greater role in a school she has been involved with for many years.

A Northland advocate is behind a campaign to get deaf-friendly fire alarms installed in public buildings, after a deaf university student was left behind during a drill. Whangarei's Kim Robinson, chairman of Deaf Action New Zealand, is driving the petition to make visual fire alarms - similar to what many deaf people have in their homes - mandatory in public buildings.

The class of eight graduates tonight after four months' study learning the variety of sign language used by New Zealand deaf people.

One deaf teacher in south Auckland has inspired several toddlers and their parents to learn sign language.

The Auckland Deaf Society has reversed a previous decision and decided to support the team being sent to the Olympic Games for deaf people in Helsinki in August by the Wellington Deaf Sports Club.

Michael May will be three next month, already he has skills, and problems that most of us don't even know about. Fiona May, his mother talks about her experiences which lead her to help form the Wellington Association for Deaf Children.

A new house build can be a challenging time for a young couple. But Gregory and Victoria Lessing are also deaf, and undertook a house build from scratch using NZSL.

A deaf couple are appealing to the public for help after the family's van was stolen from outside their home. Mita Moses and Kathy Strongman want their vehicle back so they can carry on providing a normal life for their family of four children.

Stress and anxiety is bubbling in the Deaf community as it struggles to communicate with the public through face masks. They were “struggling” at the supermarket because they relied on lipreading to communicate. “Masks are creating a bit of a problem."

Northland sign language tutor Eddie Hokianga has taken up the task of ensuring the region's deaf Māori community is heard. Hokianga (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngā Puhi, Ngāti Porou) has spent the last three years teaching te reo sign language to help fill a national void of interpreters fluent in the discourse.

Paparangi's Kaz Witko will be representing New Zealand at the World Deaf Games in Los Angeles later this year. At 36, Kaz is no stranger to playing sport for his country.

A 24-year-old deaf swimmer shows her honorary membership certificate of the Auckland Surf Life Saving Association to her teammates that leaves tomorrow night for the International Games for the Deaf.

Balmoral's Deaf Welfare Centre will be forced to close its hostel next week unless it gets financial help.

A television documentary on the plight of a deaf man has spurred the Glen Eden-based New Zealand Association of the Deaf into action. It wants to see the man, wrongly imprisoned for two years, receive compensation for his ordeal.

The decision to prevent seven deaf Japanese climbers from tackling Mount Cook had set a dangerous precedent, although many people would think it was the right thing to do.

To mark the centenary of the birth of Helen Keller on June 27, 1880, Pat Dugale has written about unusual experiences in her life.

Royce and Robyn Flynn of Grenada Village owned three cats, but Alf was their favourite so they were upset when he disappeared four months ago.

The first time Monica Leach took part in the Oxfam Trailerwalker was with a group of hearing friends. Leach, who is Deaf and uses NZSL, found it difficult to communicate with the team. But last weekend, her team Deaf Power Walk completed it in Taranaki as an all-Deaf team.

Deaf people have had unfair trials through lack of interpreters telling them what is happening in courts.

In Hamilton, there are four deaf units, three at Hamilton West and one at Melville Intermediate. Next year there is going to be a deaf unit at Melville High School.

The principal of the School for the Deaf, Sumner, died in Christchurch today after a short illness. Herbert Pickering was 64 years old.

Members of Nelson's deaf community say cutbacks in support services from Deaf Aotearoa have left them without access to crucial interpreting help, leaving some in vulnerable situations.

Three first-year pupils and three sets of twins numbered among the 250 or so former pupils, teachers, family and friends who attended the St Dominics School for the Deaf 50th jubilee over Anzac Weekend.

Wellington has a new worker among the deaf. Pat Dugdale, profoundly deaf, has been made field officer by the New Zealand Association of the Deaf. Her job is to provide personal social service help and to liaise with organisations, welfare agencies, commercial institutions and lawyers on behalf of the deaf.

The Deaf Sign Singers have a busy schedule this year with performances throughout the North Island.

A weekly news programme for the deaf will be transmitted on Two from February 28, 1980.

Twenty-three of the 39 residential care staff at van Asch College were made redundant yesterday as a result of Government funding cuts last year.

Nine third-formers, all described as "profoundly deaf", began secondary school this year at Hutt Valley Memorial Technical College.

Social Welfare Officer and organising secretary of The Friends of the Deaf in Auckland hopes to provide housing via several units to be known as the Eddowes Memorial Village.

World Deaf Games Chaperon Kath Smith – her husband is the manager and both are also deaf – adjusts swimmer Rossell MacKenzie's hat at a final outfitting in Auckland.

It’s an old saying that mother knows best. So when Craig McKeogh’s mum Velda McKeogh suggested he take up bowls to ‘keep him out of trouble’ he took up the advice. And it’s sound advice that has worked out well, with Craig - who has been deaf almost since birth - selected to represent New Zealand at the World Bowls Championships in Edinburgh in August.

The Government would have to consider regulations covering climbing if the mountaineering community makes an issue out of his action in evacuating seven Japanese climbers from Mt Cook, the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Muldoon, indicated today.

The sixteenth World Games for the Deaf wraps up on 18 January 1989, with the next hosts being Sofia, Bulgaria. Members of the New Zealand team perform a farewell haka for their overseas visitors.

The team of 17 deaf athletes are farewelled at Kelston School for the Deaf, with official team photos, before leaving for the 10th International Games for the Deaf at Washington D.C.

Wellington Deaf Society secretary, Pat Dugdale, is expecting 200 people from around New Zealand to take part in its 50th anniversary celebrations.

Coventry was selected as a sole member of the New Zealand team to attend the July Deaf Olympics in Yugoslavia.

Deaf people have evolved a sophisticated language which is little understood by hearing people and is officially ignored, according to American linguist Marianne Collins-Ahlgren.

Trevor Fear, Auckland's newly-appointed deaf welfare officer talks about his experiences, the deaf community and their needs.

Stewart Smith who is deaf, has been in teams which have won the New Zealand fours twice, and one of his team has won the Auckland singles three years running.

New Zealand will have to struggle to send a team to the next World Games for the Deaf because of the huge cost of staging the 1989 event which ended at Queen Elizabeth II Park yesterday.

Make-up sessions for deaf women were set up, teaching how to use glossers, glissers, eyeliners, shaders, blushers and highlights.

Weekly yoga exercises at the Deaf Welfare Centre in Balmoral, where the instructor knocks the floor so the class knows when the time has come to "breathe out".

An interpreter passes on the Pope's message to the deaf during the outdoor Mass at Athletic Park.

Some Television New Zealand news bulletins are to be subtitled for hard-of-hearing viewers, but no titles are planned for TV3 news.

The New Zealand mountaineer who conquered Mt Everest 30 years ago, Sir Edmund Hillary, has criticised the decision of the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Muldoon, to remove deaf Japanese climbers from Mt Cook.

The deaf Lynndale athlete is endeavouring to gain selection for the forth coming Deaf Olympics to be held in Yugoslavia in July.

Many obstacles, including their deafness, are getting in the way of a planned study to the United States and Britian for Angela and Shelia.

An attempt is being made to keep the St Dominics complex - the house, hostel wind and teaching facilities - as a Feilding-owned business or trust.

A multimillion dollar education centre is helping deaf students communicate. More than 400 people attended the opening of the Kelston Deaf Education Centre (KDEC) rebuild on February 28, 2017.

Peter Downie is a basketball referee of considerable merit, a national badge holder for eight years, Downie recently shifted to Auckland from Christchurch.

Twenty marae across Northland want to grow the number of whānau who can speak te reo Māori ... in sign language. An eight week course, He Aha, is about to get under way to help whānau improve communication with tangata turi.

A crowd of 4000 cheered and waved as about 1400 athletes and officials resplendent in national colours marched into the stadium as a reminder that the first World Games for the Deaf were held in Paris in 1924.

Among the schooling communities in Hawke's Bay perhaps one of the most unique is the deaf community; many of whom were taught at Napier's Onekawa Deaf Unit. Their stories, heard over the past two years by resource teacher of the deaf Juliet Clarke, have now been compiled into a one-of-a-kind book 'Hearing Aid Bras and Other Stories 1969-2014.'

Former New Zealand titleholder Stewart Smith (Auckland Deaf Welfare League Bowling Club) was one of the early qualifiers in the Indoor Bowls Association's annual Queen's Birthday tournament.

Research on the complex sign language that deaf New Zealanders have created could push education authorities to recognise the language's authenticity. It has taken an American linguist to document the distinctive language.

This month, the Manawatu Deaf Club will again host the Annual New Zealand Deaf Convention. It will be the twenty-first with over 200 people competing. 160-170 will be from Auckland, Waikato, Taranaki, Wellington, Christchurch and Southland. Local competitors make up the total.

Wayne Riggs (Wellington) beats Shaun Ruffel (Taranaki) to the wicket in a practice game by members of the Central District Deaf Sports team before the Saturday match against an Australian deaf team.

The deaf community in Christchurch is appealing for van Asch College to remain a special school for deaf children, after some parents in Sumner and Redcliffs have suggested it become a secondary school.

Fifty deaf people registered a silent protest outside the Auckland Magistrate’s Court yesterday about what they say is the subtle discrimination of New Zealand against deaf people.

Mihiarangi Marsters is living proof smoke alarms save lives. The 71-year-old great-great-grandmother escaped as flames engulfed the kitchen of her Tikipunga home. Deaf since the age of 7, it was the special flashing smoke alarm that woke her and allowed her to grab her 4-year-old great- granddaughter and flee before it was too late.

New Zealand was beaten by Australia in the basketball at Cowles Stadium today, 76-63. The New Zealand captain, Tony McGill, put the first points on the board with an impressive three pointer but the Kiwis could not keep the pressure on.

Lack of access to interpreters means deaf children are missing out on education. There are about 3600 children in the deaf education system, of which about 96 per cent attend mainstream schools. There are just three NZSL educational interpreters working full time with students, meaning most children were missing out.

For many people in the Deaf community, the coronavirus pandemic was the most they had ever seen their language on television. But its meant more than simply accessing information – it includes the Deaf community in conversations.

A trip to the United States in 1990 gave Whangārei man Kim Robinson extra motivation to seek better and equal access for the deaf community in New Zealand. Now, that commitment to ensuring deaf people are heard and their needs met has seen him made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for services to the deaf community in the New Year's Honours List.

The New Zealand Deaf Sports Association demonstrated in Wellington at the weekend – at its 33rd annual games – how well it would use the Government funds it is hoping for so the association can hire its own interpreters.

Anthony and Christine Walton, both deaf, are recipients of one of the first phonotypes to be installed in the Wellington area.

Whaikaha – Ministry of Disabled People has become the first and only government ministry with a name in all three of New Zealand’s official languages.

Northland's deaf community are rallying to get sign language interpreters at major events, anniversaries and festivals such as Waitangi Day and Anzac Day commemorations. Deaf Action NZ and Tū Tāngata Turi want the Government to fully fund New Zealand sign language interpreters for formal coverage of events, along with social interpreting throughout the day.

Kath Smith, selected as chaperon for the first official team to represent New Zealand at the International Games for the Deaf, is being fitted with the ceremonial team outfit.

New Zealand deaf sports competitors and officials must build on the successes and achievements of the 16th World Games for the Deaf which ended in Christchurch on Monday, the games committee chairman, John Macdonald, said today.

An observer tags along to watch delegates from the N.Z. Deaf Societies Convention at their annual meeting in Wellington, noting “sometimes debates flared, and a number of delegates were gesticulating wildly, making their points.”

A revolutionary device which opens up a whole new world for those born deaf is now being demonstrated in Wellington. New Zealand is the only second country in the world to adopt the system so far.

Penny Went collected a silver medal at the last World Games for the Deaf – now she is home and aiming for gold.

Mihaka Lemon is ready to pull on the black jersey as he heads aboard a plane to England for the first time. The 29-year-old will play for the New Zealand Deaf Blacks on their English tour.

If a New Zealand-born person doesn’t speak good English, people are likely to assume such a person is unintelligent. Such an assumption is wrong when the person is born deaf.

Few people with normal hearing stop to consider the daily frustrations faced by the deaf.

Auckland welterweight wrestler John McRae captured a silver medla and a bronze at the Olympic Games for the Deaf in Helenski.

The first NZSL-led consultation to amend current legislation has opened, but advocates fear their advice will be ignored.

Palmerston North's Annette Scott is hoping to learn how to involve more deaf people in sport when she goes to the Deaflympics in Taiwan next week. Scott is going as New Zealand's Chef de Mission in a 13-strong tour party, which includes six athletes.

Deaf and hearing-impaired Kiwis are about to get a lot more choice in what they watch on television thanks to closed captioning being introduced on 10 new channels.

The Minister of Broadcasting was getting in some last-minute swot on sign language, in preparation for a speech tonight to an audience made up mainly of deaf people.

The Games will be about the same size as the 1974 sporting extravaganza in Christchurch, the Commonwealth Games. Yet it has been orchestrated on a budget of $700,000 – about one-third of the cost of the opening ceremony planned for the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland.

The New Zealand team to compete in the World Deaf Games in West Germany later this month is $10,000 short of funds. The 20-strong team is due to buy its air travel tickets and is faced with having to borrow the deficit.

Stewart Smith, deaf secretary of the Deaf Welfare Centre, has rounded off a successful season by winning the Auckland indoor centre's champion-of-champion singles.

Married recently at St Patrick’s Church, Paraparaumu were Kaz and Pam Witko, the only daughter of Mr and Mrs Howell. The couple will live in Perth.

Athletes at the sixteenth World Deaf Games will be randomly tested for drug use. Athletes to be tested would be selected before events by the executive of the Committee of the International Silent Sports (CISS).

What right did Robert Muldoon have to order seven deaf Japanese climbers off Mt Cook? Will his action mean that in future any climber will need prime ministerial sanction before he or she can proceed?

The result of Dick Poole's efforts was the official team photograph of the New Zealand team. The team mascot is in the centre of the front row alongside the coaches and team officials.

Seven Japanese climbers, members of the Tokyo Deaf and Mute Climbing Society, flew on to Mt Cook yesterday, ignoring warnings of avalanche danger near their base camp.

New Zealand athletes who took part in the World Deaf Games in Cologne arrived home unhappy about losing their bid to host the 1985 Deaf Games in Christchurch.

Van Asch College, as it will now be known, is no longer a school exclusively for the deaf.

“Here I can be myself.” That’s how 17-year-old Northlander Naomi Ngawati sums up the Language Days (organised by Ko Taku Reo) she’s been attending since she was a child.

Barry Kay just wanted to order dinner for his kids at Burger King. The Christchurch builder had written his order in big letters on a piece of paper for the drive-through, as he had done before. But when he handed over his order at the window on Friday, the operator told him to go inside.

Wearing a face mask is meant to help slow the spread of Covid-19. But for Tokoroa’s Roger Drower, who is partially deaf, they’ve left him feeling discriminated and isolated.

Deaf people gatherered near the front of the papal Mass as interpreter Rachel Locker translated for them. She said it was one of the hardest job she had done because of the religious language.

Deaf people are angered and disappointed by the threat facing the TV show News Review.

Qualified interpreters are desperately needed to cope with the needs of deaf people in New Zealand.

New Zealand's Michael Lynch is on target for a gold medal in the 200m butterfly event at the World Games for the Deaf.

The price in being part of the 600-strong Commonwealth Games opening ceremony choir as they use sign language to sing is evident.

For two years, 14-year-old Steven Menefy has been making graphic wall plaques.

For the last 15 months, the Independent Theatre of the Deaf has performed in venues all over Auckland as the Deaf Sign Singers.

“Speaking hands, hearing eyes” is the title of an Australian folk song about the deaf. It is also the dictum by which Anne Tweedie lives and why she has started a Theatre for the Deaf.

A magnificent success is how organisers described the World Deaf Games in Christchurch. The 112-member New Zealand team – the biggest yet – won seven medals.

Wellington actor Miranda Harcourt who plays Sarah in Children of a Lesser God, understands her character's sentiments. She spent eight months learning sign language before the play opened at Dunedin's Fourtune Theatre in October.

Mojo Mathers' rise to Parliament has been labelled a success not just for the Green Party, but also for the New Zealand deaf community.

Daniel Beech was in New Plymouth over the weekend to demonstrate a new machine which enables deaf people to use a telephone.

Whakatane teacher Ruth Gerzon looks at some of the problems facing the deaf, in particular the controversy on how they should be taught.

A touching moment at the opening of the World Games for the Deaf appeared to set the tone for the competition. The entire United States team lined up to touch hands with the Russian athletes as the Soviet team marched into place.

The play, Children of a Lesser God, opens at Wellington's Circa Theatre next week. The theatre is arranging a special showing of the play, with an interpreter, for deaf people, their families and tutors.

The story of Catholic Deaf-Mute education, what has been done for deaf students by Dominican Nuns, and the new St. Dominic’s School for Deaf Children in Wellington.

It takes only a few minutes in the company of Pat Dugdale to realise that she has a mischievous sense of fun. It’s almost as if she enjoys shocking people and then watching their reaction.

Susie Ovens, born 97% deaf, uses mime as one of the many methods to relate to the hearing world. She is also a member of the “Deaf Sign Singers”, a group of 11 deaf people who perform sign language to music.

Kristofer Jonsson is a calm and quiet chef, never yelling at anyone in the kitchen, and for good reason – he's deaf. "I focus on the visual side – you can look at the colour, where things are browning."

A field officer for the deaf, Mr David Chilwell, a former president of the Christchurch Deaf Club, has been appointed in Christchurch as a result of a grant from the Lottery Funds Board.

A deaf student has been left feeling hurt after he was cast aside and forgotten about following a fire drill in a university building. Had it been a proper fire emergency, he would have been in serious danger, he said and wanted to see strobe light alarms installed.

Sumner School for Deaf Children has taken an adventurous step by beginning a trial integration of a class of 'hearing' children into the school.

The four skipped by Margaret Coutts lost both matches at the national women's bowls tournament in Wellington yesterday. But they didn't mind.

The new field officer for the deaf, Pat says “…deaf people are not morons.”

Last year on Queen’s Birthday weekend, Hamilton man Hemi Hema was honoured for his tireless work advocating for opportunities for Māori Deaf. This Queen’s Birthday weekend he was showing that his great work continues – facilitating a hui for Māori Deaf from throughout Aotearoa aimed at focusing on new beginnings for their community.

For most of the week, the deaf in New Zealand are shut off from the television communication the rest of us take for granted. But for half an hour each Sunday, they can join the rest of the world, through a special programme called News Review.

A group of 44 deaf youngsters from Kelston School for the Deaf take a two-day visit to the Ruapehu snowfields.

Rebecca was recently chosen, aong with seven other deaf New Zealanders, to attend a two-week training course in London to learn the basic concepts of teaching sign language.

The Wellington Catholic Deaf Association is sending a Dominican nun to conferences in Hamburg and Manchester.

Mrs Lilian Walton of Kilbirnie is the proud owner of a new machine which enables deaf people to talk on the phone. For Mrs Walton, the teleprinter means she can "talk" to her deaf son and his deaf wife.

Māori concepts like tikanga, iwi and kaumātua don't exist in English-based sign language. And it means deaf Māori have been deprived of their culture, Hamilton-based interpreter Stephanie Awheto said. But that's changing, albeit slowly.

Jenny Griffiths, the mother of two profoundly deaf children, talks about communicating with them in Total Communication.

Managing editor Professor Graeme Kennedy said the project had developed the most advanced computer database in the world for analysing and recording sign language.

Candice David was only 3 when she lost her hearing. Now, she's helping others learn her only form of communication, NZSL. Candice was at Palmerston North bar Brew Union on Sunday, offering free NZSL tutorials to all patrons.

New Zealand showed how much it has improved in the soccer tournament at the World Games for the Deaf when it took two goals in the last 5 min by Australia to beat it in the play-off for ninth place at English Park today.

Serious inadequacies of a deaf education board serving thousands of children are being addressed by senior Ministry of Education officials. The ministry confirmed four complaints had been laid about student safety, staffing and low achievement at Auckland's Kelston Deaf Education Centre.

Christchurch's devastating earthquakes changed the lives of many people. Timaru couple Julie Nielson and Paul O'Donnell could finally turn off their television subtitles thanks to the sign language interpreters who stood beside Christchurch mayor Bob Parker as he addressed the public on a daily basis.

An Auckland-Manawatu netball game with a difference – all the players were deaf. Deaf people from all over New Zealand are participating in the 25th NZ deaf sports convention which began in Hamilton yesterday.

From the day a child is diagnosed as being profoundly deaf, he should learn the system of "total communication," advocates Australian educationist Mr Brian Reynolds.

Kevin Stokes wishes more people spoke his language. He would also like to see it recognised, as New Zealand's third official language, alng with English and Maori.

Poor access to emergency services for the deaf could result in a death unless some action is taken soon, say advocates for the deaf. A petition has just been launched to ask Telecom to provide a relay service for that deaf people can call for help.

Seven deaf and mute Japanese climbers are angry at newly knighted Prime Minister, Sir Robert Muldoon, ordering them down from Mt Cook yesterday, says a leading mountain guide.

Parents and teachers at a unique school for Deaf students within a school believe more children in Wellington could benefit from the service. And they are calling for a high school to be set up to teach Deaf students across the region.