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Calum's potty over a lack of facilities
A YOUNG Harry Potter fan was distraught when he missed out on enjoying the new film with his pals.
A YOUNG Harry Potter fan was distraught when he missed out on enjoying the new film with his pals.While all his friends went off to the cinema to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix nine-year-old Calum Daly was left at home.
Calum missed out on the treat because he is deaf and the nearest Showcase cinema that was showing the popular Potter movie doesn’t do subtitles.
For three years, his frustrated mother Jill Medlock (47) has been firing off letters to the head office of the Showcase cinema, on Mallory Road, Peterborough, which currently has a policy of not showing subtitled screenings, but with no response.
Calum even delivered a letter to the manager of the Showcase this week.
In it, he said: “Because you offer no subtitled screenings of this, or any other English language film, it is impossible for me to access your services. I am profoundly deaf and require subtitles to make sense of a film. I have no idea of what is being said in a film without subtitles. I am very upset as all my hearing friends can see the film and understand what is going on.”
Now his mum, a campaigner on deaf issues and secretary of the Peterborough and District Deaf Children’s Society, has made it her mission to push cinema bosses into a rethink, and is considering legal action if they don’t.
Calum, from Towngate East, Market Deeping, was born deaf, and can only understand films if they are properly captioned.
This usually means he has to wait until they come out on DVD – robbing him of a chance to join friends on a day out – or travel miles away to Kettering.
Jill, who used to work as an access officer for Peterborough City Council and has a good knowledge of the Disability and Discrimination Act, said the cinema chain was failing the seven million deaf people in the country.
She said: “I’m really quite annoyed with the situation for cinema-goers if they are deaf or hard of hearing.
“We pay a lot of money to see films and we can’t get subtitled screening. I can’t believe it’s like this in Peterborough.
“I used to be an access officer for the city council and know service providers such as banks have to provide lifts. Cinemas would only have to show one screening in the day and one in the evening a week. The technology is already there.”
She said an induction loop, which can be installed, would have no effect on someone who is profoundly deaf.
Mrs Medlock, who is also mum to Keir (12) said deaf people were staying away from the cinema in their droves because they struggled to make sense of the non-subtitled films.
She said: “When my son was younger, I used to sit beside him in the cinema and sign to him. But films are three hours long and the vocabulary is so in-depth now.”
Wanda Whitson, spokeswoman for Showcase owners National Amusements, based in Massachusetts, America, said: “We apologise for any inconvenience to our patrons.
“We can confirm that we are evaluating special options that are becoming available to assist those who are hearing and visually impaired.”
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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