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Tukasingular supports children with hearing impairment to ease learning
Aside from teaching sign language, Tukasingula is also putting her imaginations in fashion and design to life.
PHOTO/COURTSEY.
What you need to know:
Naome Adong Tukasingular was born a normal child but she later developed hearing challenges that left her completely deaf. Despite this inability, she is soaring high in her career through teaching sign language and is a voice for persons with disabilities.
In 2003, Naome Adong Tukasingula developed tinnitus - a health condition that causes constant noise in the head— such as ringing in the ears. When she informed her mother, she got her some ear drops and tablets, with hope that it would heal in a short while.
Unfortunately, the condition worsened and when she consulted an ear specialist in 2006, she was told that she was gradually losing her sense of hearing. In fact, her classmates complained severally that she did not reply whenever they communicated to her.
Her mother informed her class teacher, who communicated to students that she had hearing challenges. She was also instructed to take on a front seat to improve her concentration in class.
She lost confidence and struggled with self-esteem because pupils ridiculed her. And this negatively affected her performance.
“I hated school. On several occasions, I pretended to be unwell just to miss school. My grades declined significantly,” she says.
Challenges
Accepting her condition did not come easy as she feared to be discriminated in the community. “I did not like to be pitied by people, so, I opted to socially isolate myself. I lost friends, “Tukasingula shares.
Frustration
At the point where she felt like dropping out of school, she enrolled to learn sign language in 2008. But she is quick to mention that she did not gain much given that her trainer had challenges with spellings and the language.
While many children look forward to being promoted to another class, she demoted herself to Primary Five because the new teacher did not know about her hearing challenges. She was able to complete Primary Seven.
When Tukasingula joined secondary school in 2011, she went to about three secondary schools to complete O-Level. She later joined Rines Senior Secondary School, Namusera, in Wakiso District, where she completed her A- Level in 2014.
“In high school, the administrators were very supportive, even though my hearing capacity got worse” she recalls.
She credits her close friends who supported her academically.
Awareness gap
Tukasingula joined Wakiso School for the Deaf in 2017 to learn sign language before going to university. She had not filled Public Universities Admissions Board (PUJAB) forms that would offer her government sponsorship as a special needs student.She scored good grades, but lacked awareness about existing opportunities for persons with special needs.
After realising that she had missed a scholarship, she decided to repeat Senior Six.
“I got my UACE certificate and learnt sign language, things became better with some of my family and friends learning basic sign language to ease communication ,” she says.
Leadership and advocacy
Tukasingula joined Makerere University in 2018 to pursue a degree in Social Work and Social Administration on government sponsorship. She observes that some staff members and students are not accommodative with students with hearing impairments, especially when they demand for clarity during lectures without an interpreter.
“There is an inclusion gap in public places such as hospitals, churches, educational institutions, which limit access to clear information for persons with hearing impairments.
During strikes at the university, Tukasingula says safety for students special needs persons is not guaranteed.
“I remember during a university strike, one of the security personnel stepped on my shoes. I imagined being shot just because I could not hear and respond to his call. This emotionally disturbed me,” she recounts.
She contested as the guild representative of students with disabilities, to be their voice at the university.
She was also motivated by disability affirmative action initiatives that are critical in the country’s journey to achieve equality and non-discrimination in education from where she had benefited.
“The life I have lived has made me more compassionate, empathetic and sensitive to different subjects,” says Tukasingular.
After graduating in 2022, she trained special needs children in Rwera Unit for the Deaf Children in Ntungamo District.
“As a social worker, I use my skills to offer psycho-social support, guidance and counselling to children,” she adds.
She believes that being a sign language instructor is a way of advocating for communities to embrace and learn sign language to enable people with disabilities have access to information, which promotes inclusion.
Becoming a fashionista
Tukasingula is also a fashion designer at IMISUS fashion house in Kampala. This is an exchange programme that skills persons with disabilities (PWDs).
She trains Immaculate Namugenyi (the founder of IMISUS) sign language while Namugenyi trains her in fashion design. She says this is helping her put her imaginations and passion for design to life.
She also works as a volunteer with the disability research group at Medical Research Council, Uganda Virus Research Institute and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Uganda, Research Unit based in Entebbe and Disabled Youth Investigator.
Statistics
According to the Uganda Population and Housing Census Report 2014, the prevalence of persons with disabilities (PWDs) was 12.4 percent. Visual impairments account for the highest form of disability (6 percent), followed by mental disabilities (5 percent), physical impairments (4 percent) and hearing difficulties (3 percent).
What it takes
“It is very challenging to raise a deaf child. Some parents become too stressed and cannot stand stigma,” she says.
It takes a lot of patience, love and learning sign language to deal with communication barriers, she says. Some parents tend to neglect their children after realising they are deaf.
“Be the first voice for your child, stand up for them. Defend and protect them. Most importantly, educate them,” she says. Some parents expect government or some organisations to take on this responsibility. Some believe that taking them to school is a waste of resources.
How easy was it for her to find a job after university? “I have been working as a volunteer. I want to help many people to learn sign language so they can support children with hearing impairments. One day, I will be somebody and look back and say yeah, I made it,” she adds.
