Overcoming barriers to services
With the help of our dedicated campaigners and partners, we’re working to overcome the social and educational barriers that hold deaf children back.
Teacher of the Deaf campaign
Numbers of Teachers of the Deaf (ToDs) in England have dropped by 19% since 2011, so we campaigned for the Government to take action as part of its Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Review.
We gave evidence at two House of Commons committees and with more than 100 organisations, wrote an open letter to the Government about the campaign.
We also created a letter with two parents, signed by 7,565 people, calling for more ToDs.
In March 2023, the Department for Education in England published its SEND improvement plan, which includes a commitment to a ToD apprenticeship programme from 2025.
12,116 dedicated people fought for change through our Campaigns Network.
Improving audiology services
In 2021, a British Academy of Audiology (BAA) report exposed serious failings in children’s audiology services in NHS Lothian, Scotland.
As a result, many deaf children didn’t get vital help when they needed it, impacting their ability to develop communication.
We’ve made sure all four governments are taking action to review and improve the quality of children’s hearing services and NHS support for deaf babies and toddlers.
In Scotland, we lobbied the government to set up a National Audiology Review. We made sure the review looked at leadership, training and audiology staffing in Scotland, to help make sure similar mistakes don’t happen again.
For more information, download the services section of our impact report.
- Overcoming barriers to services (127kb | PDF)