Deaf Flourishing 33
It is in the domain of daily life that I have situated the relevance of little deeds
of goodness, because finding examples of these deeds and leading by inspiring are
core themes in the life stories that have been generously shared with me over the
last 10 years. These individuals have mentioned finding inspiration in Mandela and
Gandhi, as well as in deaf role models such as Dr. I. King Jordan (see Chapter 2), the
late Dr. yerker Andersson (see Chapter 3), and Mr. Andrew Foster (see Chapter 5).
However, it is important to notice that they put these leaders on equal footing
with a mother who supported them to live up to their potential, with an nGo that
introduced a deaf school to a family who did not know it was possible for their deaf
child to receive an education, with an older deaf person who helped a youngster
understand her life experiences, and with a company that provided an internship
for a deaf student. As the deaf voices throughout this book attest, by connecting in
deaf flourishing we can practice deeds of goodness every day, try our best, and make
a difference.noTE
Contents from this chapter were presented at the 7th International Regional
Language Conference in 2012 (Streektaalconferentie, Elst, the netherlands) under
the title “The Flemish sign language community from a perspective of heritage and
cultural and linguistic diversity” as part of the Sign Language Says It All workshop
(Gebarentaal Zegt Alles) at Ghent University in Belgium; the 2013 ALTER Conference
for the European Society for Disability Research in Leuven, Belgium, under the title
“Keep calm and carry on signing—Understanding challenges of sustainable develop-
ment of deaf people and sign communities in times of emotion”; the 2013 Simea
Congress in Lunteren, the netherlands, under the title “Seeds for deaf and hard of
hearing young people’s flourishing: A chain of empowerment”; the 2015 Deaf Stud-
ies Summer Course at Aarhus University in Aarhus, Denmark, titled “Sustainable
development and the deaf community in times of change”; and at the 22nd Interna-
tional Congress of the Education of the Deaf in 2015 in Athens, Greece, under the
title, “Moving towards educational partnership in the age of identity and diversity.”
The research on Flanders, Cameroon, and Uganda discussed in this chapter was
facilitated by a postdoctoral fellowship of the Research Foundation Flanders at
Ghent University.