A Lesson from Auslan

Hi fellow PR 393

Most of you must have submitted the final report. But not me, I have just completed the 16th day of my internship.

Anyway I just want to share about the organizational culture in my workplace.

In the WA Deaf Society, some of the employees are Deaf and I can’t talk much with them due to my poor sign language. For those of you who do not know what sign language (Auslan) is, it is simply the language for Deaf people.

At the beginning of my work placement, I never realized how hard it could be to communicate with Deaf. After I have been working there for a month, then a question popped up in my head, “Are we talking in a different language?” :)

Even if I know that I communicate in a different language, somehow in my mind Auslan is simply signs, gestures and body movements. I’ve never really thought that Auslan is a different language, and it is a language.

I was somehow reminded of the organisation’s written values (before they changed into the new ones). One of them is “A respect for Auslan as the language of the Deaf community.”

Every volunteer in the WA Deaf Society has an opportunity to learn Auslan every week. Deaf teacher come to the Society’s office to teach the sign language. Too bad for me, I’ve only attended one class so far. There were events happening around in the office that most of the times the Auslan class was cancelled.

It makes me wonder why the Society even wants to organize an Auslan class for hearing staff and volunteers.

I think it is because a respect of Auslan is one of the organisation’s values. After all if you work for an organization, you have to agree with their values. Well, we’ve learned this in one of our lectures on PR ethics. But I also personally think that PR practitioners in non-for-profit organizations possess stronger organizational culture rather than those in profit sector or consultancy.

Am I right? Feel free to drop your opinion.


Annice