Deaf Inclusion

Deaf Awareness Week (DAW)
2 – 8 May 2022

We know that deafness comes with many challenges, but many Deaf people and those around in their community feel like their struggles are unseen. They yearn for a wider participatory role and inclusion in many spheres of life.

Deaf individuals often feel unsupported, unwanted, invisible, and excluded. Deafness very often goes hand in hand with other invisible challenges, many of which are too vague to be noticed. One of these can be daily struggle mental health. This is especially daunting because mental health is unseen condition that can only be verbalised to be put in some meaningful perspective for both: those affected by it and the ones trying to help. If the voice is missing, as it is the case for the Deaf people, the suffering is doubled, and thus the impact of exclusion more prominent.

That is why DAW (2-8 May) is focusing on Inclusion Deafness, to explore the entire theme of inclusion within our community. We will highlight the impact of hearing loss on everyday life, importance of mental health in Deaf, increase visibility and inclusion of underrepresented groups amongst Deaf such as migrants, black, minority ethnic and women, and raise pertinent issues of deafness being overlooked within education and the workplace.

For example look for articles on Deaf Awareness such as following the link www.nhsinform.scot/deaf-awareness or experience of deafness by Jenny Hersh or example supplied by Mitochrondrial community

WE INVITE ALL TO HELP US GET INCLUDED

WE want all our contacts to help us get our society more inclusive. For that we have created a number of ways for you to participate and will share them with you!

1 Download our poster and send to schools, sensory departments or HEIs

We have created a Deaf Inclusion- Deaf Awareness Week poster that we would love to see displayed on campuses and schools across the UK. It is a useful way to raise awareness and prompt people to learn more about deafness.

2 Share your story

Your voice matters. As a member of the deaf community your input is very important to us. We believe that everyone with deafness has a unique story and the power to create positive change. That is why we invite you to share your story with us during Deaf awareness week. We will publish it on our website.

3 Show us what deafness can look and feel like

Explaining how it feels to be deaf can be difficult to put into words, but for some, it can be depicted through other means. This DAW Week we are asking our community to have a thought about what deafness looks like, and how it is experienced from the viewpoint of someone who is deaf. That might take the form of painting, or drawing, or recording a piece to camera talking about how deafness makes you feel. Get creative and share with us what deafness means to you! Get yourself heard and help us to help you get included! Send your submissions to: sheila@ukcod.org.uk and we will share a selection throughout the week on social media.

4 Get a group together to talk about Deafness

You may wish to get a group of students, peers, mates, or colleagues to all take part and create a joint gallery of creative work. We would LOVE to see the results of this joint venture. You can share your galleries with us by sending a photograph to sheila@ukcod.org.uk or by tagging us on social media. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, and lnstagram.

5 Take up our INCLUSION challenge!

We are challenging everyone in Deaf community to take up two inclusion challenges during DAW Week:

1) Share your top tips on navigating Higher Education/ Workplace, School or Everyday shopping as a Deaf person – Share with us what works for you and what doesn’t work for you, and why! You could share this as a video or post tagging – us on social media, or you might like to email us your top tips for us to share during the week.

2) Arrange an Inclusion Deafness event – this could be a talk, a presentation, or a discussion time during the working day to talk about deafness. Whatever the event, it is a great way of bringing likeminded people together and include them in all the challenges that deafness often comes with. In the new year we will be loading the PowerPoint presentation on the website of our suggestions for you regarding Deaf Inclusion.

6 Spread the word of Deaf INCLUSION

We want to see all the amazing activities you’re doing this week, so please share it! Here are some ways you can help spread the word and raise awareness this week:
Share your activity on social media using the hashtags
#lnclusionDeafness and #MyDeafStory