£500,000 boost for deaf children and their families
16 April 2004
A pioneering study launched today will help support the social inclusion of deaf children.
The study is funded by a £500,000 grant awarded to Deafness Research UK and The National Deaf Children’s Society and will improve the lives of deaf children through better information, support and services for parents.
Many deaf children and their families are disadvantaged because factors such as inadequate language, communication and literacy development can impact upon their mental health, academic achievement and employment.
Funded by the Community Fund, this four-year study, to be undertaken in collaboration with the University of Manchester, the Medical Research Council and City University, aims to show how the use of technology, such as hearing aids, as well as support from professionals and parenting style, can impact on language and communication development for deaf babies and their families.
Deafness Research UK Chief Executive Vivienne Michael says: “Inappropriate and ineffective support and intervention from medical, educational and other services are known to contribute to the social exclusion of deaf children and their families, but until now we have lacked firm evidence about what works best for children with different degrees of hearing loss, different family configurations, or from different ethnic or cultural backgrounds. The introduction of routine screening of all newborn babies for deafness gives us a wonderful opportunity to undertake this important study.”
Susan Daniels, Chief Executive of NDCS says: “We are delighted to have received funding for this long awaited and much needed study. To be able to track the development of deaf children from such an early age and assess the impact that different choices and models of professional and parental support have on their lives is vital. This will help parents make more informed choices, assist us to provide more appropriate support for services working with families and hopefully result in more deaf children reaching their full potential.”
Deafness Research UK is the UK's national charity dedicated to improving the quality of life for all deaf and hearing impaired people through research and information, and NDCS is the only UK charity solely dedicated to the support of all deaf children, young deaf people, their parents, carers, families and professionals working on their behalf.
The four-year project is expected to start in September this year.
Further information
Vivienne Michael, Deafness Research UK Chief Executive, phone 020 7679 8900, email
Amy Skipp, NDCS Head of Policy & Research, phone 020 7014 1106, email
Sarah Brown, NDCS Public Relations Manager, phone 020 7014 1144, email
Notes to editors
Deafness Research UK (The Hearing Research Trust) is the UK's medical research charity for deaf and hearing impaired people. Since being founded in 1985, Deafness Research UK has secured many radical improvements in the prevention, diagnosis and the treatment of hearing difficulties.
The NDCS, founded in 1944, is the UK's only charity solely dedicated to the welfare of all deaf children. NDCS provides immediate and on-going support, information, advice and advocacy on every aspect of childhood deafness. NDCS provides balanced information about all aspects of childhood deafness, including education, health welfare benefits and technology.
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