Jo Brunker, 4th year Natural Sciences
Are you aware of deafness? Are you aware that almost nine million people (that’s one in seven) in the UK are deaf or hard of hearing?
Deaf. Deafness. Maybe you associate those words with old people, handicapped people, dumb, or even stupid people; but deafness is not linked to intelligence or physical ability, and can affect anyone of any age. In fact, although more than 50% of people over the age of 60 have some degree of hearing loss, there are also about 840 babies born each year in the UK with significant deafness. Childhood deafness presents a barrier to learning speech, hence the misconstrued phrase “deaf and dumb”, but does not imply a difference in intellect. I have a cousin and three small nephews who, after operations to improve their hearing, were able to progress as fast as their schoolmates. I’m sure that you have seen at least one deaf student here, at UCL, – but did you guess?
Whether or not you see deafness as a disability, it’s certainly not a disability you can see: as a silent, invisible condition, it often goes unrecognised or is despised by those with better hearing. This can leave some deaf people feeling bitter and isolated, whilst others have developed a sense of identity within the so-called “Deaf Community”. These latter Deaf (capital “D”) people see themselves as members of a cultural and linguistic group, who use British Sign Language (BSL) as their first or preferred language.
BSL is the most widely used method of signing in the UK, and has its own grammatical structure. However, sign languages vary between, and sometimes within, countries; some people also use Sign Supported English (SSL), which is not a language in its own right, but more like English with gestures. As leaders of UCL Deaf Awareness, we aim to learn the basics of BSL and SSL, with a view to teaching it to school children during the second term. This is an important step towards helping students relate to the deaf community.
In addition to learning sign languages, we want to dispel some of the common myths regarding deafness. We have invited speakers to tell us about the types and causes of hearing difficulties, and the technologies available to improve them. Although we are not volunteering with deaf people directly, we do hope to have one or two deaf students in our sessions, and we also have links with the RNID (The Royal National Institute for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People), which is the largest charity representing the nine million deaf and hard of hearing people in the UK.
The RNID works hard to reverse negative attitudes about deafness, for example in the workplace, and we want to do the same within UCL. As one worker put it, regarding his deaf colleague, “People should be more aware. That’s what it’s all down to, being more aware and realising that they’re deaf but not daft.”
To find out more about UCL Deaf Awareness contact us at uczxdap@ucl.ac.uk. We will do our best to make sure you can get involved with the group in September!