RNID “Your say.”

I was looking at the RNID’s website recently and came across a brand new glossy page with the slogan ‘your say’:

Member Community

My first thought was ‘oh my goodness! Could it just be possible that RNID are finally listening and giving deaf people or at least their members the right to express their opinion?’ It was certainly worth investigating further. I eventually found a page where I could comment on an issue which concerns me:

Your say

The question was ‘what can we do to involve you better in all RNID’s work and campaigns?’ So I filled in their form and answered the question – they could involve us better by creating a general forum so that we can share our concerns and perhaps create e-surgeries so that the trustees can become aware of our priorities and implement them at RNID.

However, I noticed a caveat at the bottom of the form – ‘NB We reserve the right to withhold any comment from publication.’

It will no doubt shock you to learn that my comment has not appeared on their website yet. There was a comment from Tim, but unfortunately it was the wrong Tim. Could it be that we are only allowed to ‘have our say’ as long as we sing from the same song sheet as RNID?

LATE EDIT: I've just had an e-mail from RNID saying that they would like to include my comments in their next 'one in seven' magazine. Are RNID cleaning up their act? I'll report back when the magazine is out and just maybe we'll get a response to what seems like perfectly reasonable asks.