Kathleen McDonagh, a Traveller with a disability, has a full and rewarding life, but it has been a struggle, she says
Growing up as a Traveller with a deafness disability did not come without its problems. When I was two years old I was diagnosed as being deaf. Both my parents were shocked and upset at the time of the diagnosis, as there was no history of deafness in the family.
My hearing loss is due to the fact that my mother either had rubella or was in contact with rubella during the pregnancy. Thirty or 40 years ago very few Traveller women would have been immunised against rubella. Travellers today are becoming much more aware of the importance of healthcare.
At the age of four, with good advice from the public health nurse, my parents decided to send me to St Mary's School for Deaf Girls in Cabra, Dublin. Initially, I started as a border. I was so lonely and afraid without my family. Once my parents saw how unhappy I was, they took me home from the age of four to nine. I attended school daily, a round trip of 100 miles from Dundalk to Dublin. I liked school and made lots of friends. When I became familiar with the structure, I enjoyed the years of boarding from the age of 9 until I turned 18. I had a group cert when I finished school and then trained for seven years in the National Rehabilitation Institute to become a baker. Deep down I was not happy. I felt I needed to do something different with my life. About six years ago I started to work on a Traveller Community Employment Scheme. Since then I found things really started to make sense for me.
One of the downfalls of my education was that I was not allowed to learn sign language. I was told that I had a voice. I was not dumb. I was made to use my voice. Sometimes words were not clear for me and I had a difficulty with pronunciation. The C.E. Scheme provided me with the opportunity to learn sign language. After 11 years with no contact with the deaf community, I got the opportunity to help set up a group for parents with deaf children. I am currently working with a deaf settled child from a hearing family, helping him to improve his sign language and communication skills. In addition, I am also involved in a Women's Health Programme for Travellers. I find this work especially rewarding. Recently, I applied for a course with Link Up, to train as a sign language tutor. It is something I would hope to do full time in the future.
Looking back at my childhood and teenage years, it was a continuous struggle to fit in and adapt to both the Travelling and settled cultures, coupled with living within the deaf and hearing community. It was very confusing. I felt my lifestyle changed according to the environment I was in. In hindsight, my upbringing gave me a better understanding of life in general and how little people, from both cultures, understood the plight of people living with deafness. Some people acted as if I had no brain in my head. At times, my emotions would run riot at their attitudes towards me. I would always keep them in check, as I did not want to offend anyone.
I feel I have come a long way in my life but feel I have further to go. Without my parents I would not be the person I am today and it is them I am most thankful to. I could never have done it without them.
Kathleen McDonagh is a Traveller living in Dundalk, Co Louth