Deaf Awareness Week is an opportunity to raise awareness about Deafness, celebrate the achievements of the Deaf community, and promote equal access and inclusion for Deaf individuals in all areas of society.

As a Deaf-Led Charity, Action Deafness offers a selection of services for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Deafblind clients via our Deaf-Led Community & Care and Hubs team members.  

This week we have been asking AD’s Staff and Clients to explain what Deaf Awareness means to them.

Plus showcase our Deaf Awareness and Basic BSL training to help increase understanding and knowledge about the Deaf community, communication needs, and the barriers they face. AD’s bespoke training can be designed organisations or businesses to help promote inclusion and accessibility for Deaf people.

To enquire about this please send an email to [email protected] or visit our resources page (https://actiondeafness.org.uk/resources/) to start learning basic BSL signs today.

Sharon’s Story:

We have been asking our staff and community what #DeafAwarenessWeek2023 means to them, today we have Sharon, one of AD’s Local Hubs Community Members.

What does Deaf Awareness mean to you? 

“To me it’s my own awakening to actually facing the problem of having been Deaf, in a Deaf family for most of my life with a very negative view of it. 

Becoming Deaf aware after a traumatic year of a family bereavement, plus my own son starting to lose his hearing, made me realise that yes, I am a Deaf person and there’s a world of people out there who are living their lives, embracing who they are, in an amazing way. 

It’s all about starting to find out who’s out there, what’s available to me (and others who are on a similar path to me) and accessing it fully to find out who I am as a Deaf person and how I can live a much better and happier life being Deaf”.