Neville Aiken

Like most drivers, when Neville Aiken gets behind the steering wheel of his motorcar and turns his windows down, he can feel the wind on his face. But unlike other drivers, he can't hear the engine's roar - actually, he hears nothing - he was born deaf.

And, even though it is not yet official in Jamaica where the hearing impaired have been granted licences, the 44-year-old, married and father of three, is elated at recent progress made.

"The law was amended in 2005. The problem was they wanted to instal sensors in the cars and that barred deaf people from getting licences," said Aiken in sign language, translated by Steven McFarlane.

Aiken, who has held a driver's licence for 12 years, is a deaf culture facilitator/supervisor at the Jamaica Association for the Deaf (JAD). In his capacity, he organises classes and designs special shared reading programmes for children and their parents.

"It [the sensors] would go off if an emergency vehicle was around depending on the decibel of the sound," said McFarlane, social services coordinator at the JAD. McFarlane said that the difficulty faced was that the devices were hard to come by.

Paul Clemetson, director of the Island Traffic Authority, confirmed that the visual-signalling device was still a requirement for hearing-impaired drivers.

McFarlane added that hearing-impaired drivers would also have a sticker attached to their vehicles to distinguish them.

"They'll have a sticker marked HIP, meaning hearing impaired person certified to drive," McFarlane said.

However, Aiken believes that the sticker could make the deaf vulnerable to unscrupulous people.

"The deaf aren't comfortable with it but they hope in the future it will change. They don't want to hold up the progress of the thing so they say go ahead," Aiken signed.

Aiken got his first taste of independence while studying in the United States, where he received his driver's licence and drove for about a year.

"In America access is easy but in Jamaica, wow," he signed.

On returning to Jamaica, Aiken began his long road to acquire a licence.

"I tried ... and tried ... and tried and pressured them until they finally gave me," he signed. "But that was not until after about 20 attempts."

"They gave me a special test and the police was involved with that test," he signed.

Aiken's efforts finally paid off when was eventually granted a private licence to drive motor cars only. He believes being able to speak somewhat, and his competence in keeping his job were other factors which helped in convincing the powers that be.

Twelve years later, he said he has had no major accidents. He had a minor accident where the person was to blame.

"A taxi driver ran into my back and insurance paid for it," he signed.

"People think that the deaf are dangerous drivers but the fact is, that's not the facts. The deaf can drive. The visual is more important to driving," he explained.

Last Monday, 25 persons comprising 11 certified officers, five clerical officers, and 10 policemen began a four-week training course at HEART, The National TVET Centre in Gordon Town, St Andrew in basic skills to deal with deaf drivers.

This is another step which will allow others in the deaf community to experience some of Aiken's everyday privileges like dropping his five-year-old son to school or rolling up to his Camp Road office.

Aiken does not believe that wider rear-view mirrors, which are used by the hearing impaired in some countries, are necessary either. He uses regular factory fitted ones.

For the deaf being granted this opportunity it's a long-fought victory and Aiken is hopeful that this is one obstacle that will soon be viewed in the rear-view mirror.

Driving in silence

Sacha Walters

Staff Reporter

Like most drivers, when Neville Aiken gets behind the steering wheel of his motor car and turns his windows down, he can feel the wind on his face. But unlike other drivers, he can't hear the engine's roar - actually, he hears nothing - he was born deaf.

And, even though it is not yet official in Jamaica where the hearing impaired have been granted licences, the 44-year-old, married father of three, is elated at recent progress made.

"The law was amended in 2005. The problem was they wanted to install sensors in the cars and that barred deaf people from getting licences," said Aiken in sign language, translated by Steven McFarlane.

deaf-culture facilitator

Aiken, who has held a driver's licence for 12 years, is a deaf-culture facilitator/supervisor at the Jamaica Association for the Deaf (JAD). In his capacity, he organises classes and designs special shared reading programmes for children and their parents.

"It (the sensors) would go off if an emergency vehicle was around depending on the decibel of the sound," said McFarlane, social services coordinator at the JAD. McFarlane said that the difficulty faced was that the devices were hard to come by.

Paul Clemetson, director of the Island Traffic Authority, confirmed that the visual-signalling device was still a requirement for hearing-impaired drivers.

McFarlane added that hearing-impaired drivers would also have a sticker attached to their vehicles to distinguish them.

"They'll have a sticker marked HIP, meaning hearing impaired person certified to drive," McFarlane said.

However, Aiken believes that the sticker could make the deaf vulnerable to unscrupulous people.

"The deaf aren't comfortable with it, but they hope in the future it will change. They don't want to hold up the progress of the thing so they say go ahead," Aiken signed.

Aiken got his first taste of independence while studying in the United States, where he received his driver's licence and drove for about a year.

"In America access is easy, but in Jamaica, wow," he signed.

On returning to Jamaica, Aiken began his long road to acquire a licence.

"I tried ... and tried ... and tried and pressured them until they finally gave me," he signed. "But that was not until after about 20 attempts."

"They gave me a special test and the police was involved with that test," he signed.

granted private licence

Aiken's efforts finally paid off when he was eventually granted a private licence to drive motor cars only. He believes being able to speak somewhat, and his competence in keeping his job were other factors which helped in convincing the powers that be.

Twelve years later, he said he has had no major accidents. He had a minor accident in which the other driver was to be blamed.

"A taxi-driver ran into my back and insurance paid for it," he signed.

"People think that the deaf are dangerous drivers but, the fact is, that's not the facts. The deaf can drive. The visual is more important to driving," he explained.

Last Monday, 25 persons comprising 11 certified officers, five clerical officers and 10 policemen began a four-week training course at HEART, the National TVET Centre in Gordon Town, St Andrew, in basic skills to deal with deaf drivers.

This is another step which will allow others in the deaf community to experience some of Aiken's everyday privileges like dropping his five-year-old son to school or rolling up to his Camp Road office.

Aiken does not believe that wider rear-view mirrors, which are used by the hearing impaired in some countries, are necessary either. He uses regular factory-fitted ones.

For the deaf being granted this opportunity, it's a long-fought victory and Aiken is hopeful that this is one obstacle that will soon be viewed in the rear-view mirror.