An arts based enquiry provides an account of how a Deaf teacher negotiated her identity within an audist educational environment. This enquiry is supported by autoethnographic data gleaned from personal journals and a brief discourse analysis of policy recommendations revealing institutional audism. The account reveals the encounters between the Deaf teacher and her interpreting staff who attempt to undermine her as a supervisor and a teacher. This narrative was initially interpreted as a conflict between strong personalities. In this study, however, the narrative is told against the backdrop of colonialism, and specifically, audism. With insights provided through visual art, the interplay between image and text makes for a richer and multilayered story, revealing injustices, and a much compassionate view of all the players who were struggling with the pain of being subjected to audism.
