This interview features in the Autumn edition of Touching Base, our newsletter for professionals. Sign up for future issues here.

Claire Fraser is a Creative Arts Therapist and Deafblind Consultant at Able Australia. In July, Claire visited the UK as part of a multinational trip, funded by the Winston Churchill Trust, to research different approaches to deafblindness across the world. She spoke with us about her background in deafblind research, the different countries she’s visited, and what makes Sense Scotland unique in our approach.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

You’ve come to the UK all the way from Australia. Whereabouts in Australia are you based?

Melbourne. I work at a disability organisation which is very similar to Sense [Scotland] in its background. It was started by a group of parents of children who were deafblind, but now it has expanded to cater for other disabilities as well.

And what made you want to get involved in that kind of work?

I was always interested in disability in general. I started out learning sign language part-time – in Australia, our national sign language is called “Auslan”, which is quite similar to BSL.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Some sign language experts consider BSL, Auslan, and New Zealand Sign Language to be dialects of the same sign language, called British, Australian and New Zealand Sign Language, or BANZL for short.

After that, I went to study visual art at university, but I didn’t like it. So I went to study sign language instead and went more down the disability track. I had some experience with deafblindness at that time, but I was only 18 or 19 and it seemed too complex and overwhelming. I went on to study teaching and disability at university, getting interested in people’s emotional wellbeing. I thought that maybe art therapy would be a good direction to head in. Able [Australia], where I work now, were looking for an art therapist who understood intellectual disability and knew sign language, and I thought – oh, that’s me! I found it really interesting, particularly congenital deafblindness.

So your focus is a lot more on congenital deafblindness than acquired deafblindness?

Yeah. That’s definitely my passion – supporting communication, engagement, and meaningful activity in people who are born deafblind.

Can you trace that passion back to anything in particular?

I have an instinct in me always that I don’t want people to feel left out. I think that’s the core. Even if someone is deafblind and has limited formal language, I still want them to walk into a room and know there are two people here, that there’s a seat… I just want them to feel part of the world.

You must feel very lucky to work in an area that you’re so passionate about.

Yeah, very lucky. I think a lot of people don’t understand why I would want to work in this area, but I love the complexities of it all, and the challenge to ensure that people are always included.

So let’s talk about your role at Able Australia. What do you do there?

I work in the Allied Health team. I work as an art therapist and a deafblind consultant. Art therapy could either be one-on-one sessions or group sessions. The deafblind consultancies are a bit more complex – I work more with individuals’ support staff, running training about communication for instance, or helping them to engage with the person they support more effectively.

And which other countries have you visited outside of Australia with a view to investigating deafblindness approaches?

I applied for a grant which has enabled me to travel, and I put together an itinerary of places I wanted to go. The first place I visited was America, and after that the Netherlands and Norway. Each of the places I visited had a component related to creative arts and deafblindness. So sometimes I might have met a practising artist who is deafblind, whereas other times – like in Norway – I visited a specific deafblind community. After that, I visited the UK.

And is there anything that has stood out to you about the UK in its approach to deafblindness?

There have been quite a few. I’ve seen a lot of really great practice, such as amazing music sessions or fantastic facilities. Something else I noticed – which is true in the Netherlands and Norway too – is the attitude of staff. The standard and care from staff is at such a high level across the board. And their perspective is amazing too – they feel equal with the person they’re supporting.

In Norway, they have the world’s only sensory church. The music plays through speakers which makes the floor vibrate; there are water features and different smells; it’s all very sensory, and people would be brought in and their support staff would sit on the floor next to them. Everything is done together. It helps people not to feel isolated.

And what was it about Sense Scotland specifically that made you want to spend some time with us?

I knew that [you] had a big arts focus, and the background of Sense [Scotland] made it an obvious choice to go and visit. I wanted to get a perspective on deafblindness through the lens of visual arts rather than through the lens of disability. Another thing about Sense [Scotland] is the diversity in the arts tutors – their different backgrounds and ideas and approaches. The priority doesn’t seem to be on the person’s disability – the priority is on creation and expression and I think that’s really unique.

You can find out more about Claire Fraser and her work here.