In my opinion, deaf awareness is crucial in the hearing society, especially in schools. According to NDCS: ‘There are 35,000 deaf children and 85% of these are taught in mainstream schools’.  This is a staggering amount, but there is still a lack of support and awareness of hearing loss. Due to this, many deaf children are underachieving in schools, and this really disappoints me. Most children can achieve anything given the right support.

This statistic is really shocking, (from the NDCS report): out of all the children in the UK, deaf children are ‘43% less likely to get five GCSEs, including English and Maths, at grades A* to C’.

I like to use myself as a prime example, that the grades can be achieved. For GCSE I got 2 A*s, 6 As and 2 Bs. For A Level I got 2 As, and a C which was in German. I am chuffed with these results, and knowing that all my hard work was worth it. But… it wouldn’t have been possible without my support assistants.

Last year, I gave a speech to a group of BTEC Learning Support Assistants who work with children with hearing loss, and I was asked to do it again this year. Although there were about 35 of them in the room- I was very nervous! I pulled it off, and I’m quite proud of myself! Here’s a photo.

Giving my presentation to the BTEC students

I spoke about myself, and introduced Deafie Blogger to them! I gave them tips on how to communicate with deaf people, about how they can help them in school i.e. note taking. I received some very positive comments at the end. One was how much of an impact that listening to a deaf person who has gone through the education system gave them, compared to a hearing person just teaching them about deaf people in general. Some of them asked if I could go into their schools to talk to the teachers! I’d love to do it… anything to spread the awareness!

My next Phonak blog has been submitted, so keep your eyes peeled for it!

I’d just like to say a quick thank you to all my followers on Facebook, for reaching 100 likes. Also to my Twitter followers for reaching the big 600! I couldn’t have done this without you!

Love E x