Jobedge Mentor Mel bridging communication gaps for Deaf and hard of hearing participants

National Week of Deaf People is celebrated in Australia from September 23^rd – 29^th. It provides an opportunity to celebrate the communities, language, culture and history of our Deaf and hard of hearing community, and build our understanding towards their challenges.  

Meet Mel, a valued Mentor in our Jobedge team committed to supporting people with a disability or illness find meaningful, long-term work and opportunities. This year, Mel felt inspired to support her participants in a new way by learning Auslan, a passion sparked by her fascination with sign language and its representation in public media. 

Over the years, Mel has had the privilege of meeting individuals from the Deaf and hard of hearing community, but always felt an inner frustration at being unable to form a strong connection with them due to the communication barrier. To bridge this gap, Mel decided to learn Auslan, driven by a desire to foster genuine connections and promote inclusivity. 

As with any language, learning Auslan has provided its fair share of challenges. Mel has discovered just how much of the English language relies on sentence structure. Being a visual language, Auslan emphasises facial movements and expressions, which has also taken practice to implement. 

“Auslan is such a rich visual language that uses hand shapes, facial expressions, movements, and angles. As someone living with Autism Spectrum Disorder, I already struggle to observe and recognise facial expressions in my day-to-day interactions, so I’ve found this a challenging aspect of Auslan. 

Confidence comes from the willingness to try, so although it’s been difficult, sticking at it is helping me to slowly improve in these areas,” shared Mel. 

Mel has already begun communicating with participants from the Deaf and hard of hearing community. This new skill has assisted her in establishing stronger relationships with people in her role at Jobedge, and in her personal life. 

“A wonderful byproduct of learning this language is that I now have a tool I can use in moments when I am in a non-verbal state. Being able to express myself when I’m unable to find the right words or tone is life changing.” 

Mel strongly believes that everyone deserves the opportunity to communicate and connect with their community – a sentiment that resonates deeply with Jobedge. Since becoming more familiar with the Deaf and hard of hearing community, and the challenges people within it face, Mel has discovered a new understanding of how to support Jobedge participants better, which she eagerly shares with her team. 

“Accessibility to information and support is so critical in all areas of life, and Jobedge’s Disability Employment Services are no exception. If we can all be intentional about bridging as many gaps as we can, making sure that everyone we work with has access to the same opportunities, we will be able to help these incredible humans achieve all that they’re capable of and more. And that is what Disability Employment Services is all about,” shared Mel. 

Since starting her Auslan training, Mel has been able to practice and communicate with her manager Rebecca Beaumont, a child of a deaf adult (CODA) and longstanding supporter of the Deaf and hard of hearing community. Under Rebecca’s leadership, Mel and the Jobedge team have gained a unique understanding of the barriers Deaf and hard of hearing people face, and how they can effectively support them as a Disability Employment Services Providers.  

In May 2024, the entire Jobedge team participated in Deafness Awareness Training, which enabled them to learn about the challenges faced by Deaf and hard of hearing individuals and explore the best ways to support them in finding work, enhancing workplace accessibility, and breaking down communication barriers that may prevent them from accessing employment. 

Additionally, Jobedge has recently joined our Joint Venture partner, Asuria, in committing to the Impact for Inclusion initiative. Through this initiative, Jobedge invites its employers to pledge their support towards fostering diverse and inclusive workplaces, which will help us to create sustainable and meaningful employment opportunities for our participants. To learn more about Impact for Inclusion, click here. 

We’re proud to have staff members like Mel supporting our Deaf and hard of hearing participants to Progress Together. If you would like to learn more about how Jobedge can help you find work with a disability, injury or illness, visit our Job Seekers page.