
For Deaf Awareness Week, Opencast junior software development consultant John Owens, born profoundly deaf, shares his perspective – arguing that attitudes towards deafness are among the biggest challenges deaf people face.
As part of Deaf Awareness Week, I want to share some facts – not all of them widely known – around deafness and how to communicate with deaf and hard-of-hearing people.
A few things to clear up first. Not every deaf person is the same. Some use British Sign Language (BSL), some can speak – and some can both. Not everyone can lipread, either.
Born deaf
Some 90% of children are born to hearing families, with little or no history of deafness. I was born profoundly deaf and I’m only the deaf person in the family. At the time of my birth, there were no programmes at the NHS to test new-born children’s hearing levels. I went undiagnosed until I was one year old. NHS only introduced hearing tests for new-borns around 2001.
It’s very important to diagnose hearing levels at the time of birth, to help children understand language and communication. Otherwise, it could impact their school education and their ability to navigate a complicated world.
The National Deaf Children’s Society charity supports deaf children and their additional needs. It is also the organiser of the annual Deaf Awareness Week.
Mental health
I’m an advocate for mental health. Not just for deaf people, but everyone in general. Deaf people are likely to experience mental health issues at twice the rate of the general population. Mental health doesn’t stem from being deaf, but from “parental, societal and cultural factors such as communication and attitudes towards deafness” (quoted from NHS England).
It’s important that deaf people have support networks in place like having friends, family where they meet on a regular basis. More information on mental health for deaf people can be found on this NHS blog.