28th November 2001

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Young deaf people living in Northern Ireland face discrimination, cultural isolation and segregation in schools and in the workplace according to a landmark report launched by the University of Ulster and the Northern Ireland Deaf Youth Association today.

The study, which is the first ever of its kind here, asks what life is like for a young, deaf person living in Northern Ireland.

Key findings revealed that:

• At least 40% of children had to attend specialist schools in Dublin or England, separating them from their families and friends at a very young age.
  
• Those who attend locally-based mainstream schools often isolated and segregated due to oralist education policies and discouragement of sign language.
  
• Exploitation and under-employment are rife within the young deaf community.
  
• There is no official recognition of sign language, making access to public services, information, education and social and economic life almost impossible.
  
• There is a serious lack of interpreter support with only 4 registered interpreters throughout Northern Ireland.
  
• Mental health support services are highly inadequate with councellors having to be accessed from England.
  

Authors of the report have called on the Department of Education to carry out an immediate review of the standard of education provision for young deaf people in Northern Ireland, in particular asking why children should have to attend schools outside the province.

They have also recommended that direct funding be made available to initiate new programmes of development and that sign language (both ISL and BSL) be given official recognition.

Pat Henry, Research Co-ordinator of the University of Ulster’s Community Youth Work Team and co-author of the report said:

"In Northern Ireland we are consumed by political and religious identities, yet here is a cultural grouping which has been largely ignored and isolated. This is a landmark report in that young, deaf people’s voices are finally being heard and the issues that they raise are being brought to the attention of government and to those who provide services to young deaf people."

The report entitled "Big ‘D’ wee ‘d’: The lives of young deaf people in Northern Ireland" will be officially launched on Wednesday 28 November at 11.00 am at the Europa Hotel, Belfast as part of a day long conference.

For further information, please contact:

Press Office Department of Communication and Development
Telephone: 028 9036 6178
Email: pressoffice@ulster.ac.uk