“Challenges will always exist for a variety of reasons – it’s up to us to decide how we face them and how we respond to them.”
This is a fundamental tenet of life for 2015 Young Australian of the Year, Drisana Levitzke-Gray.
As a human rights advocate, business owner, professional speaker, trainer, and native Auslan speaker, Levitzke-Gray has inspired a generation of Deaf and hearing people across the nation.
Levitzke-Gray made her first Auslan sign when she was just eight months old, a much-anticipated milestone for a child representing the fifth generation in her family to be born deaf.
“As a Deaf person, I’ve gained a language (Australian Sign Language), a culture, a community, and I’m a part of the rich and amazing history spanning hundreds of years and beyond.”
“I did not lose anything when I was born, I did not have a hearing loss, I have Deaf gain by growing up bilingual and bi-cultural, a member of two cultures and communities. I’ve gained so much more in life as a Deaf person that I would if I was born hearing,” she said.
Perhaps the most significant challenge for Deaf people in Australia today are the persistent social, economic and political barriers that hamper full and meaningful participation in society.
Upon receiving the accolade of Young Australian of the Year in 2015, Levitzke-Gray was catapulted into the spotlight, giving her a national platform to raise awareness about the inequality that faces Deaf people in Australia, and the lack of profile given to Auslan as an Australian language.
“Challenges still exist, but we are on the right path, and things will only continue to get better as people accept us as we are. I am seeing more and more young Deaf leaders getting involved, and taking up new projects, which is amazing,” she said.
Levitzke-Gray says that the struggles she’s faced as a young Deaf woman has shaped the person and the leader that she is for the better.
“I now have profound understanding of how people develop their mentality and perspectives on those that are ‘different’.”
“My advice to young Deaf leaders would be to remember that there is always a way around the challenges we face. Be the bigger person, and one day you will look back and realise just how much you’ve have gone through, experienced and succeeded,” she said.
In addition to her advocacy to enrich the lives of Deaf adults, Levitzke-Gray has a goal to enhance the human rights of Deaf children. Specifically, she wants to see all Deaf children learn Auslan from birth, so they too can grow up bilingually and bi-culturally.
“This human right has been consistently denied for many Deaf children and their families who are told by the medical field that signing will delay or impact on their speech acquisition. They’re also told to not to meet Deaf people who sign.”
“Many of those children grow up deprived of language. No child in today’s world, regardless if they’re Deaf or not, should ever be deprived of their right to grow up with a language, to be able to communicate, to express, to think and to form relationship.”
“When Deaf children are given languages from birth and grow up bilingually and biculturally, they become full citizens of Australia and will give back to the Australian society just like I do,” she said.
Last year Levitzke-Gray delivered a TED talk on the topic, which has now been viewed more than 15,000 times – a promising indicator of an appetite for change.
Her advice to those of us who want to be a part of this shift is to be embrace difference, new experiences, and to open doors for Deaf people to get involved.
“You never know how much a person can contribute until you give them a go. We are all human with our own dreams and hopes, skills and abilities.”
“I am forever grateful to the people who have given me opportunities to prove myself as a passionate person who wants to create positive social change. Be open, have a good attitude, ask questions and give us a go.”
Drisana is one of the keynote speakers at the She Leads Conference on 1 June at QT Canberra, which features Auslan interpreters. Tickets are now available here.