Joey Deacon
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Joseph "Joey" John Deacon (24 May 1920- 3 December 1981) was a British author and television personality.
Biography
Joey Deacon was born with cerebral palsy, which left him with spastic arms and legs. This prevented fine movements of hands and arms, and meant that although he could walk with assistance, he used a wheelchair for most of his life. This also rendered his speech unintelligible to all except a few. He was institutionalised as a child and later worked making shoes in sheltered accommodation. Because he was unable to communicate freely, he was assumed by some to be mentally subnormal. However, with the help of his friends Ernie Roberts, Tom Blackburn, and Michael Sangster he was able to write a book, "Tongue Tied", published by Mencap as a part of their Subnormality in the Seventies series. The book gave an unique insight into the often-disregarded lives of handicapped people of the time (as the title of the series shows), and with money raised from book sales, Joey and his friends bought a home for themselves.Early life
His mother had a fall during pregnancy, which caused Joey's cerebral palsy. She had always believed Joey to be intelligent, despite his outward appearance. She used to ask him to count the motor cars at the front of their house and Joey would respond by blinking. During his childhood in hospital, Joey proved his intelligence several times in tests like this, using non-verbal communication means such as blinking or pointing with his nose. Joey had operations on the backs of his legs (at St. Childe's Hospital, according to Tongue Tied) when he was about four, but these were not successful. Joey's mother died of Consumption when he was six. Joey then went to live with his grandmother. When he was eight, after a number of further operations, he was admitted to Queen Mary's Hospital, Carshalton, then transferred six months later to Caterham Mental Hospital (later known as St. Lawrence's Hospital, Caterham) where he remained for the rest of his life. His father stayed in contact with him during his time in Caterham until his father died in 1939.Tongue Tied
In 1970, Deacon began to write his autobiography with three friends. Ernie Roberts (also a cerebral palsy sufferer), had been in hospital since the age of ten, and was able to understand Deacon's speech. The third member of the team, Michael Sangster, had been in hospital since he was sixteen.Roberts listened to Deacon's dictation and repeated it to Sangster, who wrote it down in longhand. After proof-reading by hospital staff, it was typed by the fourth member of the team, Tom Blackburn (who had been adopted by his aunt and admitted to hospital when he was 18). Blackburn could neither read nor write, but taught himself to type in order to help.
The resulting forty-four page book took fourteen months to write.
Later life
The four men formed an inseparable group in the hospital for decades, and their relationship was the subject of an episode of British television documentary Horizon and another of Blue Peter (see below). Royalties from the book and donations raised enough money for the four to move to a bungalow in the Caterham hospital grounds in 1979, where they were able to live more independently . After Deacon died, Blackburn and Roberts moved to a house outside the grounds, where they lived with support from carers.Blue Peter and Cultural Impact
Joey was brought to the UK's attention in 1981, the International Year of the Disabled, when he was featured on the children's magazine show Blue Peter.
Joey was presented by the programme as an example of a man who achieved a lot in spite of his disabilities. However, despite the positive light in which the programme was trying to present his story, the impact of this wide popular exposure was probably not in accordance with the expectations or wishes of the programme editors. The sights and sounds of Joey's distinctive speech and movements had a lasting impact on young viewers, who quickly learnt to imitate them. Joey's name and mannerisms quickly became a label of ridicule in school playgrounds across the country. Even today, if a person trips over or happens to otherwise compromise themselves, they may still be mocked as a "Joey".
Joey's name was also the inspiration for the playground rhymes "Joe A, Joe B, Joe C, Joe D, Joey" and "Acon, Beacon, Ceacon, Deacon!" where the speaker alternately points his finger at himself and a fellow pupil in order to imply that the other person has some (vaguely-defined) handicap in common with Joey Deacon. That variants of these rhymes/games exist is significant because it means they have sufficient maturity and prevalence to diverge.
The second series of cult UK comedy series Spaced (2001) also contains a quick "Joey" reference, when Tim tells Daisy to "Get off me, you Joey!".
Bibliography
- Deacon, Joey (1974). Tongue Tied. Fifty years of friendship in a subnormality hospital. Nat. Soc. for Mentally Handicapped Children ISBN 0855370173
- Deacon, Joey (Reprint). Tongue Tied. Fifty years of friendship in a subnormality hospital. Mencap Publications ISBN 0855370777
External links
Several websites are dedicated to the memory of Joey Deacon, often in questionable taste, however some which mock his Blue Peter appearance and delight in the cultural impact often show respect or compassion for Deacon himself.- [Judas Cow - about the history and cultural impact of Joey's Blue Peter appearance]
- [Section from Law Of The Playground on Joey; it also cites variations on the playground rhyme]
- [Site about the history of Caterham Mental Hospital]
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