Family Sign Language
The Department for Children, Schools and Families in Westminster has announced it will provide funding to help families with deaf children who use British Sign Language (BSL) learn the skills they need to communicate effectively.
The announcement from the Department for Children, Schools and Families in May 2008, inviting organisations to submit proposals to secure funding for a project to improve BSL provision and status for families of deaf children and young people, follows a sustained period of lobbying from NDCS. The lobbying culminated in a meeting between Susan Daniels OBE, NDCS Chief Executive and the Prime Minister in February 2008. The meeting was organised by Malcolm Bruce MP, Honorary Vice President of NDCS.
NDCS outlined to the Prime Minister the results from a recent NDCS survey of parents which revealed that:
- 76% of parents with deaf children have attended BSL classes to learn to communicate with their deaf child.
- All respondents felt that the classes available were too focused on communication between adults and not the kind of language and topics parents use with their children.
- 50% of respondents paid for the classes themselves and only 14% managed to find funding from local authorities.
Thank you
We would like to thank all those who responded to our survey. This allowed us to present a powerful and persuasive appeal for action to Gordon Brown, which has now led to funding which will make a real lasting difference to many families of deaf children.
Supporting families
NDCS believes that the family is the most important influence on a deaf child's development. Yet many parents of deaf children have never met another deaf person or know how to communicate effectively with their deaf child. As a result, they struggle to support and educate their child.
It is crucial that parents of deaf children receive the support they need to learn to communicate with their deaf child from day one, using whatever communication method they require.
That is why NDCS is campaigning for a nationwide family sign language programme that is geared towards families' needs and available to every family that needs it. We will continue to work with the Government on this key issue.
