Our wins
We campaign alongside deaf children and their families. We win by working together to get our voices heard in the media and by local and national governments. These are just a handful of our successful campaigns.
Before newborn hearing screening was introduced children were often not diagnosed as deaf until they were three or older.
In 2006, after many years of campaigning, newborn hearing screening was introduced across the UK. All children now have a hearing test in their first few weeks of life and deaf children are much more likely to get the help and support they need early on.
We campaigned alongside deaf young people to get the Department for Education to allow for the creation of a GCSE in British Sign Language. The GCSE is now in development and we hope to see it being offered in schools in the near future.
Read our blog about this win.
A few years ago we started hearing worrying reports from deaf apprentices who were facing barriers to completing their training. We took the issue up with the skills minister who agreed that British Sign Language qualifications could be accepted as an alternative to English. These qualifications are required in order to complete an apprenticeship.
Martin is our expert on careers: read his blog about this.
Sutton, London
We prevented the closure of two teaching units for deaf children in this area of London.
Bradford
After a successful campaign we stopped Bradford Council making schools pay for specialist support for deaf children.
Stoke-on-Trent
We reversed plans for cuts to Teacher of the Deaf posts.
Southampton
We successfully campaigned for an increase in permanent Teacher of the Deaf posts.
Following the publication of our Close the Gap Report in 2014, our campaign to close the education attainment gap for deaf learners has now helped bring about a Scottish Parliament Inquiry on the issue.
A government review started in 2009 meant that many deaf children could have been excluded from receiving support for education. We contacted the Assembly Education Committee, the Education Minister and senior civil servants to ensure that deaf children are not excluded from receiving the support they need.
Good acoustics in classrooms are vital so that deaf children can follow their lessons. We were concerned that new "21st Century Schools" buildings in Wales wouldn't meet acoustic standards. We successfully persuaded the Welsh Government to make compliance with acoustic standards a contractual clause for projects funded by the scheme.