Educator: "Deafness is a Scourge"

Members of Australia's deaf community are outraged over an educator's remarks at an awards ceremony. Dimity Dornan, who leads Hear and Say, reportedly told those in attendance that deafness is "a scourge in our world'.' Doman was accepting an award as Telstra's Queensland Businesswoman of the Year. Several groups have called on her to apologize and hundreds have joined a FaceBook page called Stop Deaf Cultural Genocide. The Brisbane Times quotes her as saying: ''I think deafness is at the same stage polio was a few decades ago. It is a scourge in our world but it can be almost completely eradicated …'' You can read the paper's story here. Dornan contends the quote is inaccurate. Telstra has removed video footage of the speech from its website and from YouTube.