Deaf Awareness Week 2023 1st May-7th May
Hearing loss and deafness have a massive impact on the lives of the people who live with them. The world is a very noisy place, with lots of people and companies clamouring to get the attention of their target audience, but stop and think: what does it feel like to be a child experiencing the challenges of their days while deaf?
In an effort to be inclusive and to drive diversity and equality we need to start thinking about how we can adapt everyday scenarios into fair, accessible, and equal encounters for all. A BBC News report recently covered how BSL (British Sign Language) is now being used at some train stations in the UK to deliver customer information to their passengers. This marks a huge step in the right direction for making train travel/public transport more accessible to thousands of people in the UK! Other accommodations are also being made all the time in an effort to improve the lives of hearing impaired individuals, including the introduction of BSL being offered as a complimentary/additional training course to schoolteachers.
Deaf Awareness Week is about so much more than just raising money for Deafness and Hearing Loss charities, it is all about improving the quality of life for many, many people. With an estimated 1 in 6 people living with some form of partial or total hearing loss, it would be extremely beneficial if British Sign Language enters mainstream society as a form of communication.
Many schools already offer BSL clubs and activities to their students, and many teachers, teaching assistants and learning support staff hold British Sign Language qualifications, enabling them to interact with all the children they engage with. You can even start learning BSL from the comfort of your own home! The video at the end of this blog offers a short introduction to greetings in British Sign Language, and other videos can be found on YouTube to continue your learning if you find that it is something that interests you. Alternatively, there are frequently BSL classes offered at reasonable rates both online and in person at different venues throughout the UK.
For further information on deafness and hearing loss in children, as well as for free resources to download and use please use the following link to the National Deaf Children’s Society homepage:
National Deaf Children’s Society | Supporting deaf children (ndcs.org.uk)