National Deaf Children’s Society announces new five-year strategy

The National Deaf Children’s Society has announced a new five-year strategy to launch from April. The strategy will bring a much stronger focus on supporting deaf children and their families during the early years and as soon as possible after deafness has been identified.

The charity has collated a large body of evidence, which highlights that the early years, soon after deafness has been identified, is the time it can have the biggest impact on the lives of deaf children. Research suggests that early intervention means deaf children have a greater opportunity to reach their potential in the future. The strategy will therefore prioritise supporting more deaf children aged 0-5 and those recently identified as deaf.

The charity will review its services and campaigns to enable it to do this, with a plan to scale down some of its more resource-intensive products and services, as it aims to reach more deaf children and young people than ever before. The new strategic direction will also see the organisation enhance its information and advice services and strengthen networks in local communities, by building partnerships that best serve the needs of deaf children and young people.  

Susan Daniels OBE, Chief Executive at the National Deaf Children’s Society, said:

“We strongly believe that our new strategy will enable us to transform the lives of even more deaf children.   

“We’re proud of the journey we’ve come on over the past few decades, supporting deaf children and young people, and their families. But we are still not reaching enough deaf children early on in their journey, when help and support is particularly crucial.

“We must reach everyone who needs us and focus our efforts on where we can make the biggest positive difference to the lives of deaf children. By focusing our efforts and influence towards the early years, we can remove many of the language, learning and societal barriers deaf children face before they’re put in their way.    

“We’ll still be there for older deaf children and young people, their families and the professionals who work with them, providing them with information and online support at the times that they most need it.  And we are passionate about broadening our work in communities, building connections and local networks, so that we can work together with others who share our vision of creating a world without barriers for every deaf child.

“We believe that this approach will give us the best chance of transforming the lives of all deaf children. We can’t wait to get started and help deaf children achieve everything they want to – and everything we know they can.”

There are more than 50,000 deaf children in the UK. The National Deaf Children’s Society aims to reach every deaf child who needs support.