Advocacy

DeafHear.ie aims to have an impact on the lives of all Deaf and Hard of Hearing people in Ireland through advocacy and campaigning for improved services, and for better access to society for all.

Public Policy

Public policy initiatives have the potential to impact strongly on the lives of those with any significant loss of hearing. This impact can be negative or positive. DeafHear has focused its priority action for impact on the areas within the 'Life Quadrant' (Right).
Positive action in Health, Education, Employment and Social Inclusion and Access policies has the potential to minimise or eliminate the disabling impact of Deafness and hearing loss for individuals and for society as a whole. Our current priority campaign and advocacy focus for DeafHear is:

• Newborn Hearing Screening for all babies born in Ireland.

Other campaigns include:

• Influence public policy in Education, Health, Employment and Social Services - to improve social inclusion for all with a hearing loss.
  
  
• Deafness in Older People - to provide relevant information, advice and services to lower the isolating effects of hearing loss.
  
  
• Deaf Awareness - to promote better Deaf Awareness throughout society as a powerful tool of equal social inclusion.
  
  
• Emergency Services Text Access - we have petitioned ComReg, the Department of Communications, the National Disability Authority, the Gardaí and others in this campaign to have all emergency services accessible by text messaging. 
  
  
• Audiology Services - we are particularly concerned about the increasing waiting time for children who are referred for audiological assessment.