National Deaf Children's Society

🎃 Spooky season is upon us! 🎃 We’re helping make Halloween more inclusive for deaf children and their families. New research by Cadbury Fingers found that 79% of deaf children feel like they’re missing out on the fun of Halloween, and 45% have skipped the festivities altogether through fear of not being understood. To help change that, we’ve worked with Cadbury Fingers to create a British Sign Language-friendly street in Worcester, showing how learning even a little BSL can make a huge difference for deaf children trick-or-treating this Halloween. Cadbury Fingers has also launched a brand-new series of BSL videos on the Sign with Fingers Hub to help you in the build up to Halloween. 6 year old Ada, who is profoundly deaf, and mum Tilly shared a heart warming experience as Ada went trick-or-treating for the first time after turning their street almost completely BSL-friendly! Tilly shares her experiences: “We haven’t taken Ada trick-or-treating before as we’ve been wary that there could be barriers in communication with other households, and we haven’t wanted her to feel left out. The fact that our street now knows a little BSL, we’re really looking forward to taking her out trick-or-treating for the first time. Having her neighbours communicate with her in BSL is going to be so exciting.” For more information, to learn some British Sign Language signs for Halloween, and help get your street BSL-friendly for Halloween, head over to the Sign With Fingers Hub: https://lnkd.in/eCst6jgb #BSL #BritishSignLanguage #Halloween #Cadbury #Fingers #SignWithFingers

Accessibility matters. This powerful clip from Waterloo Road shows what can happen when a deaf pupil starts school without adequate or appropriate support in place. Thanks to the BBC for helping to highlight the challenges faced by the Deaf community. Every deaf child should have access to the support they need to reach their full potential – no matter their type or level of deafness, or how they choose to communicate. Read our information on getting additional support in education: https://lnkd.in/dCV3fRdK

Exciting news 🏆 We're thrilled to share that we've been shortlisted for the Best Not-for-Profit Marketing Campaign award at the Dotties 2024! These awards celebrate marketing excellence, and we're so proud to be recognised for our dedication, creativity, and passion in delivering top-notch marketing campaigns with Dotdigital. A huge thank you and well done to our team Darren Kunar Ciara McPake and Tanya Kumar! Let's keep up the fantastic work! #Dotties2024

Last week, the Welsh Government and Qualifications Wales announced that they are suspending their work on the made-for-Wales BSL GCSE. Despite many promises, this means there will be no BSL GCSE in Wales. This is devastating news. A BSL GCSE would help strengthen the status of the language, putting it on the same level as English and Welsh. It would also help encourage deaf awareness in schools, giving learners a greater understanding of deaf culture and deaf history. Together with Signature, we’ve written an open letter to Welsh Government to outline our concerns and urge them to meet with us so we can understand their decision. We’ll do everything we can to encourage the Welsh Government to change its mind. This is their chance to make sure deaf children and young people are not left behind – in school and in life. Access the full letter in English, Welsh and BSL: https://lnkd.in/eCRqk225

It’s been a busy time for our Campaigns team in Northern Ireland! Recently, the team attended three major political events to advocate for better support for deaf children: 🟣 Sinn Féin Ard Fheis in Athlone: First Minister Michelle O'Neill expressed a strong commitment to improving services for deaf children, particularly in audiology. Pat Cullen MP shared her support for more specialist professionals in education and health. We also discussed audiology, mental health services, and upcoming Sign Language legislation with Orlaithi Flynn MLA and Colm Gildernew MLA. 🟣 UUP Conference in Belfast: We celebrated a big win with the passing of a motion recognising the need for a specialist educational workforce for deaf children. Special thanks to Robbie Butler MLA for championing this cause. 🟣 Meeting with SDLP leaders, old and new: We had insightful discussions with Claire Hanna MP and Colm Eastwood MP introducing our key priorities, including education, audiology, and Sign Language services. Deaf children need the right support from the very start, and these events are key to making sure their needs are known by policymakers. Together, we can push for improved services and a more inclusive future for deaf children in Northern Ireland. #DeafChildren #Audiology #SignLanguage #Education #SpecialistWorkforce #PoliticalAdvocacy #Inclusion #NIpolitics #SinnFein #UUP #SDLP

Deaf children deserve better. It's devastating to learn that the Welsh Government and Qualifications Wales have suspended work on the Made for Wales BSL GCSE. Deaf children have the right to a qualification in their own language. Earlier this week, Jane Hutt, Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, spoke about supporting the use of BSL in Wales. Less than 24 hours later, this decision goes back on that commitment. We're determined to work with Qualifications Wales to make BSL GCSE a reality in Wales. In England, we’re also disappointed to find out that the BSL GCSE is delayed and unlikely to be available in September 2025, as planned. Together with deaf young people in England, we've fought for this for years. It’s incredibly frustrating that they will still be waiting. We know that it's vital for the GCSE in England to be robust and credible. It also needs to delivered in the right way, and meet the needs of students. However, this delay now means more deaf students in England will miss out. Deaf young people deserve to see real progress. We’ll continue to fight for BSL qualifications to be taught in schools across the UK. If we don’t push for change, we risk deaf children being left behind – in school and in life. https://lnkd.in/eNRFqaGX

Recently, our Campaigns team had powerful conversations at the 2024 Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Conference, advocating for the rights of deaf children and young people in Northern Ireland. We were thrilled to discuss with Carla Lockhart MP and Jonathan Buckley MLA the need for inclusive classrooms and the introduction of a Sign Language GCSE. Minister Gordon Lyons updated us on exciting new sign language legislation, while DUP leader Gavin Robinson MP showed great interest in learning more about our work to break down the barriers that can hold deaf children back. A highlight of the day was our discussion with Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly MLA, emphasising the critical need for early support for deaf children. We were even invited by Diane Dodds MLA to join a sign language lesson! Why do these conversations matter? By pushing for inclusive education, a Sign Language GCSE, and early intervention, we’re ensuring that deaf children receive the opportunities they deserve – in school and in life. Engaging with MLAs and councillors is key to driving policy changes that can create lasting, positive impact for deaf children and their families. A huge thank you to everyone we spoke with at the event! Together, we’re making a real difference for deaf children. #DeafChildren #SignLanguage #Inclusion #DUPConference2024

Every year at party conferences, we push to bring key issues affecting deaf children and their families to the attention of decision makers. Why? Because if we don’t push for change, we risk deaf children being left behind. That’s why earlier this week, we attended the 2024 Labour Party Conference, taking the opportunity to reach as many new MPs as possible and gain critical support for our work in Parliament. We had a great conversation with Sir Stephen Timms MP (pictured in the photo on the left), the Minister for Disabilities, about a wide range of issues – including the urgent need for SEND policies to include specialist roles such as Teachers of the Deaf. We’ll be continuing to work closely with the Minister in the coming weeks and months ahead. We had many fantastic conversations with MPs, including Jodie Gosling, MP for Nuneaton, and several others who are new to Parliament. A key theme was the increasing volume of SEND casework they are handling. It was encouraging to see that MPs are already aware of the issues we raised and are keen to work with us to fix the broken SEND system. Finally, a highlight was meeting the ex-England goalkeeper David James (pictured in the photo on the right), who was particularly interested to hear about our work. David is a big fan of British Sign Language (BSL), and would love to see more football clubs doing work to promote it! Together with our brilliant community of supporters, we’re making sure decision makers take notice and create lasting change for deaf children and young people. Find out more about our campaigning work: https://lnkd.in/eq3Eb4B3 #LPC24 #LabourConference

There's still time to sign up to our October fundraising challenge! If you and your team are looking for a fun way to get in some exercise as the weather turns colder, then take part in our squat your socks off challenge. 80 squats a day, every day, throughout October and help raise money for the National Deaf Children's Society. Register here for all the details https://lnkd.in/ePUKs_cg #FundraisingFriday

We need your support to ensure British Sign Language gets the recognition it deserves in the new Education (Scotland) Bill. While the Bill acknowledges the needs of Gaelic users and learners, it fails to do the same for British Sign Language (BSL). This could mean deaf children who use or want to learn BSL are left without the support they need. Both BSL and Gaelic are vibrant, legally recognised languages, and they must be given equal recognition by the public bodies this Bill creates. Together with RNID, Deaf Action, Deafblind Scotland, Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland, and local groups, we’re pushing for this vital change to the Bill. Your support is essential to make this change happen. If you live in Scotland, join the campaign today and help make sure BSL isn’t forgotten: https://lnkd.in/euzzhkTS #Deaf #BSL #BritishSignLanguage #DeafChildren #SignLanguage