Understanding Deafness

Deaf and Hard of Hearing people in the UK

There are 11 million Deaf and Hard of Hearing people in the UK. That’s one in six of the population, and this number is rising as the number of people over 60 increases.

About 750,000 of these people are severely or profoundly deaf. Another 450,000 of them are severely or profoundly deaf and cannot hear well enough to use a voice telephone, even with equipment to make it louder. However, people who cannot use voice telephones can use text phones or videophones.

Deaf and Hard of Hearing children in the UK

In the UK, there are about 20,000 children under 16 years old who are moderately to profoundly Deaf. About 12,000 of these were born deaf. There are more than 30,000 deaf children and young people.

Children who are born deaf are sometimes called “prelingually” deaf because they were deaf before they developed language. They have particular educational needs.

About one in every 1,000 children is deaf at three years old. This rises to two in every 1,000 children aged nine to 16. And an estimated 840 children are born in the UK every year with significant deafness; that is, moderate to profound deafness.

For more information on Children’s Services please visit National Deaf Children’s Society, www.ndcs.org.uk

Deaf awareness course

MSDP provide face-to-face Deaf awareness courses at our head office in Liverpool. If you would like to find out more, then please get in touch: reception@msdp.org.uk