Emotional well-being of deaf children

Evidence suggests that deaf children are more likely to experience mental health problems. With the right support, deaf children can grow up to be confident and resilient individuals. However, growing up deaf in a hearing world can pose challenges to the emotional well-being of many deaf children.

That is why the provision of mental health services to deaf children is crucial, to ensure that deaf children have the same emotional well-being as their hearing peers.

The Department for Children, Schools and Families in Westminster has asked Jo Davidson to conduct an independent review into child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). The review team issued a call for evidence in April 2008.

NDCS submitted our response to this call for evidence in July 2008, which you can read here: 

NDCS response to CAMHS call for evidence (144 kb)

At the end of July, the CAMHS review team published its interim report, setting out its initial findings and areas in which it will be looking at further in the coming months.

National CAMHS review - interim report (127 kb)  

A final report is expected to be published in October 2008. 

We would like to thank all those who took the time to respond to the call for evidence and talk about their own experiences. NDCS will continue to speak out about the difficulties that some deaf children face in achieving emotional well-being, and the need for services to be designed to meet their needs.  

Please contact us if you have any comments on our response or the review, of you would like to share your response or experiences with us. We will use your stories in our campaign work to ensure that deaf children get the support they need.

NDCS has produced a report on Developing mental health services for deaf children and young people in Northern Ireland.

You can also read NDCS's policy on mental health.