Today is the start of Deaf Awareness Week which celebrates the achievements
of organisations working with deaf people according to its organisers UK Council on Deafness.

More importantly it highlights the positive steps taken by employers and others such as public services to make sure deaf and hard of hearing people are treated fairly and have equal access to work and leisure.

Deaf Awareness Week is an opportunity to raise awareness that 1 in 6 people in who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Jim Edwards, chair of the UK Council on Deafness, told us : “The theme of this year’s
Deaf Awareness Week is in response to increasing collaboration. The UK Council on Deafness now has over a hundred members and they work with many more organisations across the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. It is this cooperation that is leading to improvements for deaf people. Over the past year we have together secured better access to health services and information, improved relay services, made changes to Access to Work, challenged plans to deny people hearing aids and more.”

To help show our support we have reproduced the UK Council on Deafness’s brilliant advice sheet on communicating with hard of hearing or deaf people.

Please feel free to like and , of course, share with as many people as possible.