Survey results of Emotional Wellbeing of Deaf Young People published
In 2022, the National Deaf Children’s Society conducted an online survey aimed at deaf young people over the age of 13 across the UK. The survey sought to establish the level of happiness in relation to different aspects of their lives and if professional help has been sought and their experience of this. Over 250 participants took part and over 220 responses were included in the findings. The survey used the Good Childhood Index developed by The Children’s Society to establish how young people felt and this allowed the results to be directly compared with young people surveyed in the 2022 Good Childhood report.
The findings showed that:
- Deaf CYP had lower overall life satisfaction (62.8%) compared to the general CYP (81.9%)
- Over a quarter of deaf CYP had ‘low’ wellbeing (26.6.%) in contrast to just 11.6% of general CYP
- 66.4% of deaf CYP wanted or needed help with their mental health in the last year and of them 60.9% received the help they needed.
When asking if there was anything else that the participants would like to tell the team, comments on feelings of isolation and a lack of friends seemed to stem from a lack of deaf awareness in friendship groups or educational settings. In the case of professionals, avenues of communication and a general lack of deaf awareness or specific advice for deaf CYP were highlighted: “The trouble is you end up being the one educating and when you're struggling that’s hard.”
We have an upcoming webinar on 9th March titled Twilight Talks: Supporting Deaf and Hard of Hearing Learners in Education . This webinar is an overview of hearing loss, its impact on well-being, and strategies to promote accessibility and inclusivity in today’s dynamic classroom. If you are unable to attend the session, a recording will be made available in the Knowledge Hub.
