General News
1 July, 2023
Marketing for a good cause
For the past 30 years, Zoe Stancliffe’s smiling face has been frequently spotted in markets across the Wimmera. If she hears there’s a market, you can guarantee she’ll be there with her sweet stall, Cross Eyes, attracting kids and their...
For the past 30 years, Zoe Stancliffe’s smiling face has been frequently spotted in markets across the Wimmera.
If she hears there’s a market, you can guarantee she’ll be there with her sweet stall, Cross Eyes, attracting kids and their parents, with her bountiful lollies.
But none of the profit is for herself.
All of Ms Stancliffe's proceeds go to supporting the deaf - a cause for which she's very passionate.
It’s not hard to understand why.
Ms Stancliffe is, herself, proficient in Auslan sign and, with a husband, daughter and grand-daughter who are all congenitally deaf, she has first-hand knowledge of the stigma deaf people suffer at the ‘hands’ of the hearing.
Ms Stancliffe, who lives in Beulah, said the deaf are often misunderstood by the public, which can result in them being treated poorly, and the misapprehension results in a lack of support.
“It’s a hidden disability,” she said.
Socially isolated because their use of sign underlines their difference from hearing people, the deaf are treated as inferior or mentally deficient, often because their speaking skills are considered lacking.
They can be denied equal access to basic services like localised education; they can face stigma and sometimes violence because of deaf-culture communication tactics unfamiliar to hearing people.
In some cases, the deaf are even asked to stop using exaggerated facial expressions because they are making hearing people uncomfortable.
Very often they are denied jobs. For the deaf individual, these things may result in chronic stress and depression.
“But I think the deaf and hearing can live together,” Ms Stancliffe said. “I know because I do. It can be done.”
When communicating with the deaf, she says making direct eye contact is very important.
Ms Stancliffe's hearing daughter is also proficient in Auslan, or Australian sign.
It is a common misconception that there is just one universal sign language. Much like spoken languages defined by borders, there are more than 300 different sign languages in use around the world.
For example, Italian sign, LIS (Lingua dei Segni Italiana), will not be understood by an Australian using Auslan sign language.
What is needed is support services so hearing and non-hearing can communicate effectively with each other.
Ms Stancliffe works hard on her stall to provide just that, and you can find her quietly spreading the word at Dimboola, Rainbow and Natimuk markets.