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About Deafness

What is Deafness?

• Deafness means that a person has a limited ability to hear sounds. It is a communication difficulty rather than merely a loss of sound perception.
  
  
• Congenital deafness affects all aspects of a child's development: cognitive, emotional, social and educational.
  
  
• Hearing Loss affects volume (loudness) and frequency (pitch).
  
  
• Adults who become deaf (deafened) do not rely on hearing alone to communicate. Vision is also important.
  
  
• The terms mild, moderate, severe and profound describe the extent of deafness.

Facts about Deafness:

• 3 in 1,000 children in Ireland are born with a disabling hearing loss (approx. 200 pa).
  
  
• Early detection of hearing loss in newborn babies is the most important factor in minimising the disabling impact of deafness over the child's life.
  
  
• 2,000 children with disabling hearing loss attend mainstream and special schools in Ireland.
  
  
• 5,000 profoundly deaf Irish Sign Language (ISL) users live in Ireland. ISL is unique to Ireland and has a strong cultural binding force on the deaf community.
  
  
• 20% of people aged 50 years and older experience a disabling hearing loss (225,000 p~ople in Ireland).
  
  
• 44% of people aged 70 years and over experience a disabling hearing loss (145,000 Irish adults).
  
  
• A significant percentage of acquired hearing loss is preventable through better hearing care.
  
  
• Due to the increased portability of personal music players and the high incidence of listening to very loud music over a long number of years, it is expected that this generation will rewrite the hearing loss incidence statistics in the coming years.

Some Effects of Deafness and Hearing Loss on Individuals and Society: In the first 18 months of a baby's life the neuronal pathways, which determine the capacity for language and cognitive development, are laid down.

Development missed at this stage is irrecoverable, causing a life long effect including:

• Impaired development of speech, language and cognitive skills in children.
  
  
• Lower literacy and educational attainment.
  
  
• Social withdrawal and isolation, increased risk of mental illness.
  
  
• Difficulty getting a job, below average pay and poor promotion prospects.
  
  
• Major economic burden and social effects for the individual and society.
  
  
• A poor health record. This arises from a lack of communication between physician and deaf patients which results in many treatable conditions remaining undetected and untreated.

About DeafHear.ie

Deaf Hear (The National Association for the Deaf) is a Not for Profit Voluntary Organisation, established in 1964. It provides support services to deaf and hard of hearing people and their families, and to professionals working with them. Deaf Hear campaigns and advocates for improved health and education services and better access to society for all deaf and hard of hearing people. 32,546 people availed of Deaf Hear services in 2008.

Services Provided by Deaf Hear Include:

• Family and Support Services (Social Work, Counselling, Respite and Family Activities) from a network of 12 resource centres nationally.
  
  
• Assistive Technology - special alarms, doorbells and listening devices.
  
  
• Communication Therapy for those with acquired hearing loss (including lip-reading and coping strategies).
  
  
• Information and Advice on all aspects of deafness and hearing loss.
  
  
• Sign Language Classes throughout Ireland.
  
  
• A Mental Health Service accessible through Irish Sign Language (provided by a psychiatrist who is deaf).

Current Issues & Campaign Priorities:

• Newborn Hearing Screening: Introduction of Universal Newborn Hearing Screening (UNHS) into Ireland is the single biggest issue which would reduce the lifelong disabling impact of deafness on an individual. UNHS would also significantly reduce the cost to the State of lifelong rehabilitation arising from late diagnosis. It is the delay in diagnosis, not the deafness itself, which determines the extent of the disability caused. Due to the absence of UNHS, the average age of detection is two years nine months. In the UK, the average age of diagnosis is 3 months.
  
  
• Access, Advocacy & Equality Issues: Deaf Hear is focused on a priority list of public policy initiatives to improve equal access to society for deaf and hard of hearing people in Education, Health, Employment and Social Inclusion. Priority issues range from text access to 999 emergency numbers to remote ISL interpreting and accessible FAs employment services.
  
  
• Deafness in Older People: Hearing loss in older people has a major impact on their well-being and safety. It is a disability which affects the quality of life, impacting on social life and psychological well-being. Not hearing warning sounds such as smoke alarms and fire alarms affects safety. Access to information, advice and support can radically improve the quality of life for older deaf people and their families.
  
  
• Deaf Awareness: Deafness is a hidden disability masking the deaf person's need for assistance. 50% of people with acquired hearing loss experience communication difficulties with family members, while 85% have difficulty communicating in hospitals (Deaf Hear Survey, 2009). Deaf Awareness Training enables service providers to communicate effectively and politely with a deaf or hard of hearing person without causing any embarrassment to the person or themselves.

Terms for Hearing Loss

Acceptable Terms:

• Deaf Person - denoting a person with a congenital hearing loss, usually communicating through sign language
  
  
• Hard of Hearing Person - describing a person with a mild or moderate hearing loss or someone who has acquired a hearing loss throughout their lifetime.
  
  
• Deafened Person - describing a person with an acquired profound hearing loss.
  
  
• Hearing Impaired Person - describing a person with any range of hearing loss, mostly used in medical circumstances.
  
  
• Deaf Community - collective term used to describe deaf people who predominantly use sign language and see themselves as part of a community. Outdated &
  

Unacceptable Terms:

• Deaf and Dumb - offensive to all deaf and hard of hearing people.
  
  
• Deaf Mute - offensive to all deaf and hard of hearing people.

Communication Code:

• Make eye contact - Seeing your face helps me understand you.
  
  
• Speak clearly - Lip-reading helps me understand you.
  
  
• Use gestures - This helps me understand you.
  
  
• One voice only - I can only understand one speaker at a time.
  
  
• Write it down - Reading it helps me understand you.
  

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The information in this leaflet was correct at time of going to print Feb 2010