Access Bulletin on Deaf Issues: Part One
Deaf People in Islington- Key Background Information
Introduction
In this bulletin we focus on good practice in working with Deaf, deaf, deafened and hard of hearing people. It aims to act as guide to ensure your organisation is accessible to them by providing you with some background information and useful figures. A future Deaf Bulletin will look at reaching Deaf communities and creating Deaf friendly publicity and a third Deaf Bulletin will address how to contract and work with communication support workers, such as interpreters, palantypists and lipspeakers.
Please note these articles can only provide an introduction to some of the basic issues. They have been written by a hearing person, from the perspective of a service provider and as such will, of course, have some limitations .Having read these bulletins you may decide you would like more detailed guidance. We encourage you to organise Deaf Awareness or Disability Equality training for your staff. To find out more about Disability Action in Islington's training services click here. You also might wish to set up a local Deaf consultation meeting to discover how Deaf people themselves experience trying to access your services, recruitment and employment practices.
This bulletin is also designed to give you the tools to enable you to operate effectively according to the social model of disability.
Background Information
How many people are Deaf or hard of hearing in the UK?
About 8.7 million people. That's 1 in 7 of us. (Deaf Century, 1999,Channel Four Television Publications)
How do deaf people communicate?
This often depends on what time of their lives they lost their hearing. Those who are born deaf or lost their hearing before learning to speak will generally be sign language users. People who have lost their hearing in later life will generally communicate through lip-reading and speech.
How many people in the UK use sign language as a first language?
It is estimated about 50-60,000. There are no accurate figures as none have been collated.
How many Deaf sign language users are there in Islington?
Approximately 250-350 people. At present we have no hard data. Rumour has it numbers are growing due to people moving home to be here and it seems that the Deaf lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities are possibly larger than elsewhere in London and most definitely larger than in UK cities as a whole.
Growing up Deaf in the UK- what are the issues?
Most Deaf children are born into hearing families. Until recently children with a significant hearing impairment were usually segregated into Deaf schools, many of which were residential, far away from their hearing siblings, friends and families. Until 1980s sign language was banned or discouraged at best. Children sometimes suffered corporal punishment or detentions for signing, even in the playground. The emphasis was on teaching/forcing children to use what residual hearing they had, if any, and to learn to speak. This meant school timetables were dominated by hours and hours of speech therapy rather than offering the full range of subject lessons. This left Deaf children unable to achieve to their full potential and at a real disadvantage in later life. Given the vulnerability and isolation of these children, it is unfortunately no surprise that physical and sexual abuse was not unheard of. However, despite all of this, for many Deaf children Deaf schools provided welcome, and often rare, relief from the isolation created by barriers to communication with the hearing world. Deaf schools provided contact with other Deaf children, sometimes Deaf adults and teachers, and the prospect of sometimes using sign language, often lacking at home. Thus they provided a Deaf support network. Because of this, Deaf schools are often regarded very fondly by Deaf people and are seen as playing a strong part in developing Deaf culture and a positive Deaf self - identity. On leaving school, young Deaf people often felt like lost sheep in attempting to integrate into the hearing world and even today it seems a disproportionately high number of Deaf young people, and adults, suffer severe social isolation, mental health problems and emotional distress.
Since the 1980s new educational methods have meant Deaf children are more likely to be sent to mainstream schools and/or given the opportunity to learn BSL in a Deaf school, although these are being now closed down. Current government policy is confused and much depends on a post code lottery. In hearing schools, Deaf children are either educated in the classroom with a communication support worker or in a separate PHU (partially hearing unit). The issues are complex. Firstly, communication support workers are not qualified to the same level as BSL interpreters and therefore may be unable to fluently interpret classes in an accessible way, leaving the Deaf child at a disadvantage. For the child or young person it is really uncool to have an adult attached to you all the time and this can really hinder the development of normal friendships. PHU's offer education to children with a wide range of hearing impairments, meaning again Deaf people's first language is not necessarily used. Initial findings indicate that the educational achievement of Deaf children may not have risen in any way following the move towards 'mainstream' provision.
To confuse things further, the medical model of disability is also alive and well. Many parents, particularly hearing parents, choose to 'correct and cure' their child's impairment with a cochlear implant, which involves an operation to implant the device in the baby's or child's head with variable degrees of 'success'. The issue of cochlear implants is a controversial one. While the medical establishment seeks to cure us, disability rights activists and Deaf people argue that we want our physical, sensory and/or learning differences to be respected, not corrected.
Is there a sign language interpreting service in Islington?
Yes. It is not currently set up to support the voluntary sector so if you work for a voluntary sector organisation you will need to contract your own interpreters. LBI and the PCT have an interpreting service which is available to them and outsourced council services such as HFI and CEA. There is currently one full time and 3 part time interpreters. They can interpret British Sign Language (BSL) and Sign Supported English (SSE).
Contact:
Tel: 020 7527 3962 3394 (reception)
Fax: 020 7527 3279
Islington also has a social worker for Deaf people, one for a hard of hearing people and one for Deafblind people.
Contact:
Tel: 020 7527 3962 3394 (reception)
Fax: 020 7527 3279
There is a Deaf information worker, commissioned by LBI and based at DISC, (Disability In Camden). She currently holds a drop in service in Islington
Contact:
Phone-Minicom: 020 7387 1466
Fax: 020 7383 4775
Email: info@discnwl.org.uk
Deaf, deafened, hard of hearing- please can you explain all these labels? Is there a difference? What's the polite thing to say?
Yes, there is a difference. Using people's chosen way of describing themselves is good practice, shows respect and that you are positive about wanting to include them. This is important as Deaf and disabled people will often feel very under-confident about trying to access services. You will need to use different strategies to access different groups of people (for guidance see below) It is crucial to do your best to accommodate the person's preferred communication method. For example- if a Deaf person comes to use your services and you haven't budgeted for interpreters this year, make sure you do so for next year and tell the Deaf client you are doing so. Meantime, show willing to communicate as best you can.
Deaf people: People whose first or preferred language is sign language. This might be British Sign Language (BSL) or another sign language from another country. They describe themselves as Deaf, with a capital 'D', to emphasise their Deaf identity and consider themselves to be part Deaf culture. In order to communicate with a Deaf person you may need a qualified interpreter (see below). If the Deaf person is not British or has a learning difficulty you will need to check if a relay interpreter is needed. Written English is problematic (see Access Bulletin number 3, part 2). Many Deaf people have limited literacy skills and as BSL has a totally different grammar structure to English direct translations are tricky.
Deafened people: People who have lost their hearing due to a sudden accident or illness. Their first language might be a spoken or sign language, depending on their individual experience. You will need to ask the person themselves how to meet their access requirements. This might mean them being able to lip read you, using a sign supported English interpreter (SSE), lipspeaker or possibly a palantypist in a big meeting, (see the forthcoming Deaf Bulletin on communication support).
Hard of hearing and deaf lower case 'd' people: Both words describe people who have lost or are losing their hearing. Their first language is likely to be a spoken language. You will need to ask the person themselves how to meet their access requirements. This might include them being able to lip read you, sign supported English SSE, lipspeaker or possibly a palantypist in a big meeting, see the forthcoming Deaf Bulletin on communication support.
What does the law say about Deaf people?
BSL was recognised as an official language by the government in 2003. Deaf people are protected by the Disability Discrimination Act of 1995.Therefore the voluntary sector must start to become much more accessible to Deaf people. Communication access costs (i.e. paying for interpreters) etc. must be factored in to all funding applications. For more advice on access for disabled people and funding applications click here.
Deaf people have never used our services- why should we have to think about all of this?
- The Law- see above!
- Access to Information: maybe they've never heard of you! Check:
- How do folk find out about you?
- How do they contact you? Do you list all possible contact methods? Fax? Email? Minicom?
- How would they communicate with you?
- Is your information accessible to Deaf people?
- Do you advertise in places Deaf people will look? Check your publicity, website, entries into directories and your information brochures etc. Make sure all your text is as clear as possible and you include your fax number and email address.
- For more information see our forthcoming Deaf Bulletin on this issue.
- Your Funding. Local authorities will now be seeking to procure with organisations that are accessible to Deaf and disabled people. In the future we anticipate that other funding organisations will be doing the same.
Deaf Awareness Training
Deafworks
Contact: Nick and Larraine Callow
Website: www.deafworks.co.uk
Email: njc@deafworks.co.uk.
Tel: 020 7689 0033
Minicom: 020 7689 1048
Fax: 020 7689 1049
DeafACTS
Contact: Viki Chinn
Website (being set up): www.enquiries@DeafACTS.co.uk
Email: enquiries@DeafACTS.co.uk
Mobile phone (for text messages only): 07900 080833
Fax: tbc
Disability Equality Training
Disability Action in Islington
Contact:Tess McManus, Training and Consultancy Manager
Website: www.daii.org
Email: tess@daii.org
Tel: 020 7354 8925
Minicom: 020 7359 1891
Fax: 020 7359 1855
Thanks to:
Debbie Conway, LBI Head of Transcriptions and Communications Unit
Ian Urquhart, Volunteer Secretary of Islington Deaf Campaign Committee