About this event
Deaf Awareness Week (1-7 May) is all about promoting the positive aspects of living with deafness. This week aims to raise awareness of the isolation that deaf people can occasionally experience, and promote the importance of social inclusion around the deaf community. It also raises awareness of British Sign Language (BSL), which is a language used by many people in the UK who are born deaf.
The UK Council on Deafness wants to celebrate all of the amazing local organisations around the UK that support deaf people and their families and friends during Deaf Awareness Week.
Five Deaf Awareness Facts:
- Hearing loss and deafness is defined as a hidden disability.
- As well as BSL, there are international sign languages including American Sign Language and French Sign Language.
- Within the UK, there are regional variations of BSL just like there are with spoken language.
- Lip-reading helps deaf people to understand what others are saying, but even the best lip-readers still miss up to 40% of what has been said.
- The Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists highlighted that the rise in the use of face masks due to the Covid-19 pandemic makes it harder for people with hearing loss to communicate. Face coverings with a transparent panel over the mouth have now been created so that people can still lip-read through masks.
Contact details
Past event
