THE HANDICAP OF DEAFNESS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 28 May 1930, Page 10

THE HANDICAP OF DEAFNESS

APPEAL FOR SYMPATHY A warm appeal for practical sympathy with the deaf was made by the Duke of York at the annual dinner of the ltoyal Association in Aid of tho Deaf and Dumb. “Hero, in the very heart of the Empire, in London itself, are more than dOOO people who are deaf and dumb, tho largest aggregation of them in the world,” ho said. “Handicapped throughout life, constantly misunderstood, often denied lhe chance to show their ability to become self-supporting, knowing loneliness and isolation in a way that we who can hear and speak can never fully realise, their lot would be pitiable indeed were it not for tho devoted work of the staff of tho association. For 90 years the association has laboured unceasingly to befriend, to assist and to save from utter despair these afflicted people who are our own kith and kin, English, and yet cut off from ordinary intercourse, like a strange community in a foreign country. Think for one minute of the difficulty" of such people in securing employment in the tense struggle for existence of these modern days. It is a stern battle for all, but for people so handicapped it is heartbreaking. Yet they prove themselves quite capable workmen if they are given an opportunity. Tho real greatness of a nation is often shown by its regard for the weaker brethren, the poor, the afflicted, the blind, the deaf, the maimed.”