I am Yi-Shan from Taiwan. I am from New Taipei City. When I was born, I was a normal child, but I lost my hearing when I was eight, with a major illness. I tried a hearing aid but did not wear it because I did not see any results. As a result, for 10 years from age 8 and 18, I was living as a deaf person in a world of silence. I was educated at a local school, which was not a deaf school. I taught myself using textbooks because I could not hear my teacher’s voice during class. It was a hard period of my life. I could not even communicate with my classmates.

I started my own research for ways to supplement my hearing and eventually found out about cochlear implant technology. At 18, I graduated from high school and decided to go for a cochlear implant surgery. By wearing the implant, I could hear a little, and my life as a hard of hearing started.

After graduating from university, I joined a deaf association, where I started to learn sign language. When I turned 28, I was selected as one of the trainees for the 18th Duskin Leadership Program, where I studied Japanese sign language.

I had three goals for my training in Japan, to learn about:

1. Deaf people’s rights and equal opportunities
2. Employment of people with hearing impairment
3. How to communicate with people with disabilities other than hearing impairment, and how to promote activities together

To achieve these goals, I went to many training destinations.

The major destinations for my individual training were Kagoshima and Kobe.

Deaf Net KAGOSHIMA had many deaf staff members and users, who communicated in sign language. I learned many things, the most memorable of which were their community workshop “Budo No Ki” and their Japanese sign language class.

At Budo No Ki, deaf users were making many hand-crafted products, using individual skills. I liked making baskets with paper bands. The person in charge of the basket-making was quietly concentrating on the job. To master the craft, I observed how it was being done, imitated it, and asked questions when I did not understand. After three days, I understood the basic structure of the baskets. One day, a staff member of Budo No Ki brought me a magazine, and asked me to make an exact copy of the basket from a photo in the magazine. There was no design diagram, or a real thing to copy from, so I invented a design myself. All I had was one photograph. After much trial and error, I created a basket that looked something like the basket in the picture. Though it was a tough challenge for me, the person was very happy. It was also a great experience for me.

Deaf Net KAGOSHIMA had two sign language classes. One was to learn basic Japanese sign language conversations. The students were studying Japanese sign language so that they could communicate with deaf people. The other one was a class for people who aspired to become sign language interpreters. This class also trained students to acquire advanced skills required of sign language interpreters. I observed both classes, seeing how the instructors trained each class to help the students achieve their goals. As a result, I saw how the classes deployed different instruction methods, and it also helped myself in improving my own sign language skills.

In Kobe, I trained at Center for Independent Living 'Ring-Ring'. Ring-Ring had a hard-of-hearing employee. She was communicating with other staff in sign language or written text. Ring-Ring also had a sign language class, but all of the students were the staff of the center because the purpose of the class was to promote internal communication. The center had staff with and without disabilities. In one case, there was a person who was not able to communicate in sign language because of hand paralysis. Another member of staff was doing the sign language on behalf of this person.

There were many people at the center with other (not hearing) disabilities. Not everyone was good at sign language, and I was not so good at speaking or listening to Japanese. Under these circumstances, the challenge of somehow achieving communication was fun and practical. Through the conversations, I was also able to learn what kind of issues people with disabilities other than hearing impairment had, and what kind of activities they were involved in.

The best experience at Ring-Ring was peer counseling. During the long, one-and-a-half month-training, I was fortunate to attend intensive peer counselling lectures for a total of seven days: three days in March, and four days in May. Peer counseling is a program that encourages you to express your emotions and discuss your emotions many times with your peers, to eventually have some reflections on yourself. I had a wonderful experience of developing each other and growing through many interactions with my friends.

No matter how far you look in the world, there are probably no other training programs but this Duskin program includes home-stay and ski training opportunities. I feel these two programs deepened my learnings in Japan.

For the home-stay program from the end of the year to the New Year, I visited Kagawa and Utsunomiya. In Kagawa, the family let me experience udon (Japanese wheat noodle) -making, and in Utsunomiya, I was given an opportunity to wear a kimono. It was an invaluable experience to stay at the homes of Japanese families and have a hands-on experience of Japanese culture.

I will never forget the ski training. On the last day of the ski training, there was an exchange dinner party for all the trainees and the staff of the Duskin AINOWA Foundation and the Japanese Society for Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities (JSRPD) over drinks. With my poor English, it had been hard to communicate with other trainees so until then, I had not talked to them very much. But that evening, in a relaxed atmosphere, we talked about many things, helped by the shared experience of skiing. From that day onward, I no longer felt the wall between me and other trainees and now I feel they are my best friends. After my thinking changed, my perception about communication, and even life itself, changed significantly.

I was born with no hearing problems, became deaf at 8, and hard of hearing at 18. The hearing me died when I was 8. I could never go back in time and become a hearing person again. Now, I live in two worlds. One of deafness, and one of hard of hearing. Usually I am a deaf person. I live in a world without any sound whatsoever. And when I communicate with hearing people, I want to listen to their voice, so I become a hard of hearing. I realized I spoke my mind openly when I was with deaf people. There was no discrimination there, and I could be myself. When I am with hearing people, I unconsciously adjust myself to their level. But I never reveal such struggle, so hearing people often tell me I am strong, or I look fine. They do not see that I am trying very hard inside, stretching myself. I realized that I was never really enjoying myself when I was with hearing people. Does it mean that hearing people, the hard of hearing, and deaf, cannot understand each other? No. I feel it is possible to connect these three worlds. I feel there are four things that are essential for these three worlds to connect: sign language, words, eyes, and the heart. The most important of all is the heart. The desire to connect to others and develop each other comes from our heart.

I have four goals after my return to Taiwan.

First, I want to launch an activity to promote information access. I would like to get involved in activities such as developing sign language interpreters and introducing welfare equipment that is useful for the hard of hearing. I would also like to plan an event which deaf people and hearing people can enjoy together, to promote understanding toward people who cannot hear, or have a difficulty hearing.

I also want to establish a sign language training center. In Taiwan, research for sign language has not progressed. I also want to create a dictionary for Taiwanese sign language.

Third, support for people who became deaf mid-life. From my own experience, I feel there is little support in Taiwan for such people. Meanwhile, there are many forms of support for people who with hearing impairment since birth. I would like to provide equal to all these people, irrespective of when they became deaf.

Finally, I would like to establish a center for independent living for people with disabilities. At this center, I would like to proactively transmit information and make it a core center for people with hearing problems.

People welcomed me warmly at many destinations during my training. Thank you everyone, from the Duskin AINOWA Foundation, all my training destinations, and the Japanese Society for Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities, for your tremendous support.