National Deaf Children's Society

Last updated
National Deaf Children's Society
Founded15 December 1944
Registration no.England & Wales (1016532) Scotland (SC040779)
Location
  • Ground Floor South, Castle House, 37- 45 Paul Street, London EC2A 4LS
OriginsLondon, England (UK)
Website www.ndcs.org.uk

The National Deaf Children's Society (NDCS) is a British charity dedicated to providing support, information and advice for deaf children and young people, their families and professionals working with them.

Contents

The Society campaigns for improvements in services aimed at families with deaf children, working with central and local government, health authorities, education professionals, social services, manufacturers and other voluntary organizations. Its headquarters are located in London, with regional offices in Birmingham, Belfast (NDCS Northern Ireland), Cardiff (NDCS Wales) and Glasgow (NDCS Scotland).

Origins

NDCS was founded as the Society of St John of Beverley and was renamed the Deaf Children's Society in 1945. It adopted its current name in the 1950s. At its established its objective was 'to further in every way possible the provision of full modern education for all deaf children in England, as originally accorded to hearing children'.[ citation needed ]

The National Deaf Children's Society was founded in London on 15 December 1944 by a handful of parents of deaf children concerned about the impact of the 1944 Education Act on their schooling.

2002 saw the merger of NDCS with Friends for Young Deaf People, resulting in the creation of the NDCS youth wing. The merger allows NDCS to provide a service supporting families with deaf children from birth to 25.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deaf culture</span> Culture of deaf persons

Deaf culture is the set of social beliefs, behaviors, art, literary traditions, history, values, and shared institutions of communities that are influenced by deafness and which use sign languages as the main means of communication. When used as a cultural label especially within the culture, the word deaf is often written with a capital D and referred to as "big D Deaf" in speech and sign. When used as a label for the audiological condition, it is written with a lower case d. Carl G. Croneberg coined the term "Deaf Culture" and he was the first to discuss analogies between Deaf and hearing cultures in his appendices C/D of the 1965 Dictionary of American Sign Language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Zealand Sign Language</span> Main language of the deaf community in New Zealand

New Zealand Sign Language or NZSL is the main language of the deaf community in New Zealand. It became an official language of New Zealand in April 2006 under the New Zealand Sign Language Act 2006. The purpose of the act was to create rights and obligations in the use of NZSL throughout the legal system and to ensure that the Deaf community had the same access to government information and services as everybody else. According to the 2013 Census, over 20,000 New Zealanders know NZSL.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal National Institute for Deaf People</span> UK charitable organization

The Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), known as Action on Hearing Loss from 2011 to 2020, is a charitable organization working on behalf of the UK's 9 million people who are deaf or have hearing loss.

A Child of D/deaf Adult, often known by the acronym CODA, is a person who was raised by one or more deaf parent or legal guardian. Ninety percent of children born to deaf adults can hear normally, resulting in a significant and widespread community of CODAs around the world, although whether the child is hearing, D/deaf, or HH has no effect on the definition. The acronym KODA is sometimes used to refer to CODAs under the age of 18.

Sound Seekers was a British charity which works to improve the lives of deaf children and children with ear diseases in the developing countries of the Commonwealth of Nations. It provided specialist equipment, training and support to some of the poorest countries of the world, where people with the 'hidden disability' of deafness may otherwise not receive the help they need. In 2020, Sound Seekers merged with DeafKidz International, with the combined charity using the DeafKidz International name.

The South Dakota Services for the Deaf (SDSD) is a state agency that supports deaf children in South Dakota. Formerly it was a state-supported school located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota that provided services to meet the educational needs of children who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, or have cochlear implants. SDSD is governed by the South Dakota Board of Regents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Action Deaf Youth</span> Registered charity in Northern Ireland

Action Deaf Youth is the largest deaf youth organisation in Northern Ireland, headquartered in Belfast. Founded in 1988 as the Northern Ireland Deaf Youth Association, it is a registered charity offering mentoring, training and volunteer services to deaf children and young people up to the age of 30. Services provided include play therapy sessions and sign camps, and youth clubs and events enabling deaf teens to participate in their communities and meet and build relationships with their peers across Northern Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rochester School for the Deaf</span> Private school in Rochester, New York

Rochester School for the Deaf (RSD) is a private, tuition-free school for deaf and hard of hearing students to attend in Rochester, New York. It is one of the oldest and most respected preK-12th grade schools for children with hearing loss and their families in the United States, and one of nine such school in the state of New York. Serving the Central and Western portions of New York State, it has been educating students since 1876.

Deaf Children Australia (DCA) is a national not-for-profit organization that supports deaf and hard-of-hearing children and young people and their families in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deaf education</span> Education of the deaf and hard of hearing

Deaf education is the education of students with any degree of hearing loss or deafness. This may involve, but does not always, individually-planned, systematically-monitored teaching methods, adaptive materials, accessible settings, and other interventions designed to help students achieve a higher level of self-sufficiency and success in the school and community than they would achieve with a typical classroom education. There are different language modalities used in educational setting where students get varied communication methods. A number of countries focus on training teachers to teach deaf students with a variety of approaches and have organizations to aid deaf students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Black Deaf Advocates</span> U.S. non-profit organization

The National Black Deaf Advocates (NBDA) is an advocacy organization for thousands of Black deaf and hard of hearing people in the United States. Black Deaf leaders were concerned that deaf and hard-of-hearing African-Americans were not adequately represented in leadership and policy decision-making activities that were affecting their lives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hearing Link</span> UK-wide charitable organisation

Hearing LinkServices is part of Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, a UK-wide charitable organisation for adults with hearing loss, their family and friends. The head office is in Saunderton, Buckinghamshire. Its Royal Patron is The Princess Royal.

Language deprivation in deaf and hard-of-hearing children is a delay in language development that occurs when sufficient exposure to language, spoken or signed, is not provided in the first few years of a deaf or hard of hearing child's life, often called the critical or sensitive period. Early intervention, parental involvement, and other resources all work to prevent language deprivation. Children who experience limited access to language—spoken or signed—may not develop the necessary skills to successfully assimilate into the academic learning environment. There are various educational approaches for teaching deaf and hard of hearing individuals. Decisions about language instruction is dependent upon a number of factors including extent of hearing loss, availability of programs, and family dynamics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shirly Pinto</span> Former Member of Knesset

Shirly Pinto is an Israeli Deaf social-political activist, who served as Member of Knesset for National Unity.

Deaf mental health care is the providing of counseling, therapy, and other psychiatric services to people who are deaf and hard of hearing in ways that are culturally aware and linguistically accessible. This term also covers research, training, and services in ways that improve mental health for deaf people. These services consider those with a variety of hearing levels and experiences with deafness focusing on their psychological well-being. The National Association of the Deaf has identified that specialized services and knowledge of the Deaf increases successful mental health services to this population. States such as North Carolina, South Carolina, and Alabama have specialized Deaf mental health services. The Alabama Department of Mental Health has established an office of Deaf services to serve the more than 39,000 deaf and hard of hearing person who will require mental health services.

Though official statistics are not available, the Danish Deaf Association estimates that there are currently about 5,000 deaf users of Danish Sign Language, which is equivalent to nearly 0.1% of the country's population. As many as 20,000 people are thought to use the language daily in their professional or personal life.


Deafness in Poland refers to the Deaf communities in Poland and education around their culture and language. Poland has a recorded history of DHH people, dating back to 1817. About 15.1% of Polish people in Poland say they have hearing loss. Polski Język Migowy is the main signed language in Poland.

The Canadian Association of the Deaf estimates that there are over 350,000 Deaf Canadians, but there is not an exact number since there has never been a formal census on Deaf Canadians. There are approximately 1.2 million Indigenous people and over 750 reserves in Canada. There are various intersections of deaf and Indigenous culture, including valuing community, rooting their identity in their culture and its associated group instead of their individuality, having their identities oversimplified, being underrepresented in research and data collection, and experiencing health inequities due to their identities. There is limited research on Deaf Indigenous people, but the Saskatchewan Human Rights Association argues that issues faced by Deaf people are exacerbated when that person is also Indigenous.

In Benin, deafness affects 12,500 people out of their total population of 10 million. Since the late 1900s, there has been a growing emergence of resources, recognition, and support for the deaf people in Benin. The deaf community uses American Sign Language (ASL), Langue des Signes de l'Afrique Francophone (LSAF), and Langue des signes du Bénin. The type of sign and how many people use each remain undocumented. However, in 1994, one of the first LSAF dictionaries was published in Benin.

Out of nearly 59 million people in Italy, about 3.5 million Italians have some form of hearing loss. Among them, around 70,000 people are severely deaf. The European Union for the Deaf reports that the majority of the deaf people in Italy use Italian Sign Language (LIS). LIS has been an official sign language in Italy since 2021. Italy, among other countries, ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and is slowly improving conditions for deaf humans in Italy. Many major organizations in Italy fight for deaf rights and spread awareness to the Italian National Agency for the protection and assistance of the Deaf and Associated Italian Families for the Defense of the Rights of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Individuals (FIADDA). Newborns in Italy also receive universal hearing screenings. Education in Italy is directed towards oralism, although sign language is also used. LIS is a stable language and is used by approximately 40,000 users in Italy.

References