Deaf winner wants her sign language to be heard
Drisana Levitzke-Gray thinks most Australians look at deafness the wrong way.
She doesn't have a disability, she says. Instead, deaf people are more like an ethnic minority.
And like any minority, deaf people deserve basic rights.
For the past few years the 21-year-old West Australian has campaigned for all young deaf Australians to be taught Auslan - the Australian sign language - as a basic entitlement.
WEST AUSTRALIAN HONOURS
"English is my second language," Ms Levitzke-Gray says through a sign language interpreter. "I want to grow up in an Australia where people are not afraid of Auslan … where future generations of deaf Australians can realise their dreams."
Ms Levitzke-Gray was named the 2015 Young Australian of the Year yesterday for her advocacy in the deaf community and work to promote Auslan.
She is the fifth generation in her family born deaf. Both parents are deaf as are her brother and most of her extended family.
Ms Levitzke-Gray, of Balga, has attended international deaf leadership courses and works with communities in Europe and the Pacific to improve understanding of deaf youth.
Last year she became the first deaf Auslan user to fulfil her civic duty as a juror.
Rather than refer to hearing loss, Ms Levitzke-Gray prefers terms such as "deaf gain" to describe her condition.
Auslan being an Australian invention, she says the Government should promote it globally and ensure all young Australians have a chance to learn the language. "It's a human right that the deaf have that language," she says. "When you delay that language, they have a delay in cognitive abilities."
Ms Levitzke-Gray was chosen ahead of indigenous NBA basketball player Patrick Mills, business mentor Adam Mostogl, community leader Chantal Ober, filmmaker Genevieve Clay-Smith, environmentalist Thomas King and engineer and social advocate Yassmin Abdel-Magied.
