A deaf PhD graduate’s journey is living proof that challenges of a life with disability can be overcome. Guy Mcilroy is one of the first two deaf PhD graduates to be produced by Wits’s Centre for Deaf Studies (CFDS).
Mcilroy is now one of the organisers of Deaf Awareness Month, which seeks to educate the public about deafness, deaf culture and sign language. He says he was born with a hearing loss that was officially picked up when he was 7-years-old. Mcilroy adds that from that early age he wore hearing aids and went to a mainstream private school in Joburg.
During his school years, he did not have contact with deaf people nor consider himself to be deaf. His turning point came after he had taught English for 11 years. He accepted his deafness and subsequently began learning sign language. This led to his coming out as a deaf person.
“When I was at school, I did not have friends because I could not communicate with other children. At times I would pretend as if I was hearing what they were saying.
“My other challenge was that I was in a mainstream school so when a teacher was talking behind me or writing on the board, I would not follow what he or she was saying.
“Some teachers would help me and others did not. I learnt early in life that there are some people that will help you, and others will not.
“I was also the only deaf child in the class which made group work difficult for me. What made me succeed in school was I read a lot and when I came to class I would know what was being taught,” says Mcilroy.
He says after his 11-year high school teaching stint, he accepted his deafness and moved professionally into CFDS. Meeting deaf people for the first time at a local church with a vibrant and integrated deaf community brought about a major change to his identity.
Mcilroy is an active deaf mentor in the Hi Hopes early intervention programme at the Centre for Deaf Studies for supporting families with deaf children.
Last year, he successfully completed a PhD in deaf education in which he now lectures at the CFDS. His research interests are sign language, identity and bilingualism, and his hobbies include mountain biking, reading and writing blogs and poems.
His next project is to publish articles in journals from his PhD and present them at the World Federation of the Deaf in Paris next July.
He also plans to take his twin daughters to Scotland to show them their roots and meet family there.