It's my future - the winners

5 May 2009

Will doctors be able to grow replacement parts for ears? Will there be new or different ways to communicate in BSL? What will happen to cochlear implants?

It's my future asked for your ideas on how research might change things for d/Deaf people by 2019 or even 2029.

The winners for the 2009 competition are Helen Thomas, 14, from Plymouth, and Jordan McGrath, 15, from Ilkeston.

There were three runners-up: Calvin Black, 13, from Glasgow; George Greenway, 16, from Exmouth, and Hannah Norfor, 12, from Slough.

Visit the It's my future website to read the winning entries.

The competition was open to young d/Deaf people in two age groups: 12-14 years old or 15-18 years old. The first prize in each group was £100, with runners-up prizes of £50. The competition was judged by a panel of deaf and hearing experts in deafness and hearing research. Prizes were awarded at a ceremony at the House of Commons on Tuesday 5th May 2009.

Chief executive of Deafness Research UK, Vivienne Michael, said: "The entries have provided a real insight into the hopes and expectations of young deaf people and I know I can speak for my fellow judges when I say that everyone on the judging panel was hugely impressed by the quality of all the entries.

"These young people want technology and medical research to work as hard for them as they do for mainstream society. They want to be able to participate in every aspect of life just as fully as their hearing peers are able to do.

"Their ideas were imaginative and refreshing - invisible and waterproof cochlear implants for example; new, green ways of powering these devices; even glasses or contact lenses that show subtitles when you go to the movies.

"But the really exciting thing to me was that, in most cases, these ideas are eminently achievable and they will make a valuable contribution to the work of Deafness Research UK and DCAL over the coming years."

The competition was run by Deafness Research UK in association with the ESRC’s Deafness, Cognition and Language Research Centre at UCL.