Resources: Deafness and Hearing Loss

There are 11 million people in the UK with hearing loss, and at least 24,000 people who use British Sign Language (BSL) as their main language. Below is a collection of resources for if you are Deaf or have hearing loss, or if you would like to support people with deafness or hearing loss.

Support for people who are Deaf or have hearing loss

The organisations below can support you if you are Deaf or have hearing loss, or if you are supporting a family member (e.g. a child) who is Deaf or has hearing loss.

• Sunflower Scheme: St Mary's recognises the Sunflower Lanyard, which allows you to discreetly signal that you have a disability and may need support or consideration. Staff and Students can collect lanyards from various locations around campus.
• Hearing Link: UK-wide charity for people with hearing loss, their families and friends
• British Deaf Association Advocacy Service
• National Deaf Children's Society: expert support for childhood deafness.

How to support:

You can complete our 20 minute video training 'Supporting D/deaf or hearing impaired students' by 

Mairead Watson, Disability Advisor in Student Services. Access the training here.

One of the key things you can do to be supportive is taking steps to make communication easier. Top tips for communicating:

• Face the person while you are speaking, don’t turn away
• Repeat yourself if necessary
• Never say ‘It doesn’t matter’
• If the person doesn’t understand you, don’t give up!
• Write it down or draw a picture
• Speak one at a time, don’t talk over each other
• Keep your mouth visible
• Smile and relax
• Don’t speak too quickly or too slowly

Source: UK Council on Deafness

More resources:

• Make sure your content is Digitally Accessible. Guidance can be found here.
• What are reasonable adjustments in the workplace for employees with hearing loss? blog from Louder than Words
• British Deaf Association: Help and Resources for Sign Language