DEAF AWARENESS WEEK 2023

This year’s Deaf Awareness Week runs  01-07 May 2023 theme is “Access to Communication’’.

The aim of this year’s Deaf Awareness Week is to promote greater awareness and understanding of the challenges faced by the D/deaf community in accessing communication. The theme highlights the need for breaking down the communication barriers that prevent deaf people from fully participating in society.

The Deaf community often faces significant barriers to communication, which can lead to social isolation, limited employment opportunities, and reduced access to essential services. These barriers can include a lack of access to sign language interpreters, limited captioning and subtitling in videos and online content, and a general lack of awareness of the communication needs of Deaf individuals.

To address these issues, this year’s Deaf Awareness Week will focus on raising awareness of the communication needs of the Deaf community and advocating for greater access to communication tools and services. It will encourage individuals, organisations, and governments to work together to create a more inclusive society where Deaf individuals have the same access to communication as their hearing counterparts.

Through education, awareness-raising, and advocacy, we can break down the communication barriers that prevent Deaf people from participating fully in society. Let’s work together to create a world where access to communication is a fundamental human right for everyone, regardless of their hearing ability.

Are you Hard of Hearing? We have free equipment which could help improve communication

Want to learn British Sign Language?

 What it’s really like to be Deaf

People have all sorts of ideas about what it’s like to be Deaf. Help your friends be more Deaf aware by sharing these myth-busters with them.

All Deaf people can lip-read

False!

Not all people can lip-read.

Lip-reading is hard work. It takes a lot of effort and concentration and can be really tiring.  Not all lip patterns are recognisable. Try looking in a mirror and saying ‘pat’, ‘bat’, ‘mat’ without using your voice – can you tell the difference? Get your friends to try it too.

Even people who are good at lip-reading can only understand about 30% of what’s being said – the rest is guesswork.

Deaf people can’t enjoy music

False! 

Lots of Deaf people love music.

Some Deaf people can hear music, others might not be able to hear music very well but enjoy the vibrations.

There’s lots of technology that can help Deaf people enjoy music – find out more at how you can listen to music.

Sign language is the same everywhere

False!

Just as there are thousands of different spoken languages around the world, there are hundreds of different sign languages.

Even English-speaking countries have their own sign languages (Britain has British Sign Language (BSL), the USA has American Sign Language (ASL) and Australia has Australian Sign Language (Auslan).  In the UK we also have regional sign language, so there are often variations with certain words.

Want to learn sign language? learn with us here

Deaf people can’t use the phone

False! 

Lots of Deaf people use the phone

Some Deaf people can hear well enough to use standard phones, others use technology like amplified (really loud) phones.

Even if a Deaf person can’t hear on the phone they can text, FaceTime, Skype and use services like SignVideo.

Deaf people can hear everything with their hearing aids or cochlear implants

False!

It can be really frustrating when people assume Deaf people can hear OK if they’re wearing their technology.

Hearing aids can help focus sounds and make them louder, and cochlear implants carry sound directly to the brain. But this doesn’t mean a Deaf person hears in the same way, or as well as a hearing person.

How Can I Support Deaf Awareness Week

Top tips for communicating with deaf people are as follows:

• Always face the person
• Speak clearly, slowly and steadily
• Don’t cover your mouth- so the person can lip read
• Repeat and rephrase if necessary

Additionally, you can do the following to support Deaf Awareness Week:

• Deaf awareness training
• Sign up for the Disability Confidence scheme
• Join the #WeSupportDeafAwareness campaign
• Review your technology – eg. Hearing loop systems and instant video relay services