2019
video – Taonga source: Attitude Pictures
Using sign language as a family
The Fergusons are an average family of five who have fun, sometimes fight but mostly get along. The main difference is that three of them are deaf, and NZSL is the first language for the whole family. How does this work in a busy household with two teens and a toddler? We spend a few days with the Fergusons and discover it works remarkably well. Especially for the eldest Zoe who is exploring advocating for New Zealand deaf youth.
NZSL Stories
1990s
Object – Taonga source: Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT)
Telecommunications Device for the Deaf [Touchtalk TravelPro]
1981
article – Taonga source: Wellington Deaf Society
News special for the deaf
New Zealand's first television programme for deaf people will be broadcast nationally from Christchurch next Saturday.
2018
video – Taonga source: Deaf Children New Zealand
NZSL and Us: Diamond Johnson, Hamilton
Diamond is a bubbly and active little girl who loves a challenge. Her whānau embraces all three of New Zealand’s languages: English, Te Reo Māori and NZSL. Her mother is determined to improve her NZSL by attending sign language classes so she that she will be able to communicate with Diamond fully as she grows up. Her whānau has a strong commitment to ensure Diamond is exposed to as much NZSL as possible including access to Deaf role models.
2016
article – Taonga source: Stuff
Deaf Auckland University student left alone during fire drill
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.
2021
article – Taonga source: The Northern Advocate
Deaf community rally for fully funded sign language interpreters at festivals and events
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.
1996
video – Taonga source: Television New Zealand Archive
Patrick Thompson discusses upcoming wānanga for Māori Deaf
Patrick Thompson is interviewed on the ‘Marae’ programme, a bilingual Māori and English language current affairs show, about setting up a wānanga to enable Māori Deaf to access te reo Maori and Tikanga Maori.
1995
publication – Taonga source: National Foundation for Deaf and Hard of Hearing
NFD Communicate: July 1995
NZSL Stories
2017
article – Taonga source: The Northern Advocate
Flashing smoke alarm wakes deaf woman, saves life
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.
1986
article – Taonga source: Zealandia
A capital reception
An interpreter passes on the Pope's message to the deaf during the outdoor Mass at Athletic Park.
1984
video – Taonga source: Television New Zealand Archive
You and Your Child – Deaf edition
'You and Your Child' programme focuses on Deaf children, education and language and interview some parents about their Deaf children.
2022
video – Taonga source: Attitude Pictures
Being Me: Jared Flitcroft
Jared Flitcroft is a filmmaker, a businessman, a family man, and he is Deaf. Despite being fluent in Te Reo and NZSL, Jared faced barriers in the largely hearing-led film industry where so much depended on him hearing and communicating with those around him. Undeterred, he began creating his own inclusive projects.
2023
article – Taonga source: Woman’s Day
Erica Dawson’s sign language battle ‘We’re nothing to be afraid of’
"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."
Est. 1958
COLLECTIONS – CURATED BY SIGNDNA: DEAF NATIONAL ARCHIVE
Kelston Deaf Education Centre (Ko Taku Reo)
Kelston Deaf Education Centre (now Ko Taku Reo; previously Kelston School for the Deaf). Kelston was established on a site in Archibald Road in 1958. The school had relocated firstly from Titirangi, then from Mt Wellington. KDEC used to provide education in a range of satellite classes throughout Auckland the upper North Island. Kelston, which also hosts Rūaumoko Marae, merged with van Asch Deaf Education Centre to become Ko Taku Reo in 2020.
2015
article – Taonga source: Stuff
Uber calls for review of NZTA restrictions on deaf drivers
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.
1995
publication – Taonga source: National Foundation for Deaf and Hard of Hearing
NFD Communicate: February 1995
NZSL Stories
1987-91
video – Taonga source: Susan Thomas
News Review – Montage
A collection of clips from the ‘News Review’ programme 1987-1991.
1983
article – Taonga source: The Evening Post
Telephones for the deaf
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.
1991
article – Taonga source: The Guardian
Deaf drama group presents NZ first
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.
1983
article – Taonga source: NZPA
Fears for deaf climbers
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.
biography
Profile
Anthony ‘Tony’ Walton (CNZM)
Tony received the Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2001 for his services to the Deaf community. Tony has had a broad involvement in many areas of the Deaf community, having been President of the NZ Deaf Sports Association and successfully hosting the World Deaf Games in 1989.
NZSL Stories
1985
article – Taonga source: Unknown
Ready to lend helping hands to deaf
The class of eight graduates tonight after four months' study learning the variety of sign language used by New Zealand deaf people.
1991
article – Taonga source: NZ Herald
The sounds of silence
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.
NZSL Stories
1973
article – Taonga source: The Evening Post
Telephones For The Deaf Are Opening Up A New World Of Communication
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.
1990
publication – Taonga source: Auckland Deaf Society
Auckland Deaf Society newsletter: July 1990
NZSL Stories
1988
article – Taonga source: NZ Woman’s Weekly
They’re naturals for the part
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.
NZSL Stories
2016
publication – Taonga source: Oticon Foundation
Soundscape: March 2016
1992
article – Taonga source: Sunday Times
Ivan’s story perfectly told
A review of 'The Remand of Ivan Curry', a docudrama about the deaf man held on remand for 2 years accused of murdering his nephew.
1993
video – Taonga source: Television New Zealand Archive
Sounds or Silence?
In the early 1990s, due to a breakthrough in technology, cochlear implants were starting to become the norm. The Deaf community worldwide viewed cochlear implants as a device that disregarded the need for access to sign language. Others considered such devices a miracle. In 1993, ‘60 Minutes’ investigated this controversial topic in New Zealand.
1987
publication – Taonga source: National Foundation for Deaf and Hard of Hearing
NFD Journal: December 1987 (Vol. 1 No. 4)