Debate contribution: Support for Deaf Children

Debate contribution by Mr Peter Martin on 21 October 2024.

MLA

Mr Peter Martin

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

21 October 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Support for Deaf Children

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4604159

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I welcome the motion from UUP colleagues. It has certainly been an interesting debate so far. In Northern Ireland, children should already have access to a teacher of the deaf — that has been reflected on already — and an educational audiologist, regardless of their level of deafness, where they are educated or when that need is identified. We know, and Ms McLaughlin has just highlighted, that deafness is not a learning disability and that, given the right support and help, children can at least match pace with hearing children and, in many cases, outperform them. The majority of deaf children are educated at mainstream schools, yet it is the undisputed case that many deaf children do not achieve the same academic outcomes as their hearing peers. That is certainly something in which all Members would like to see an improvement. One of the key interventions that ensures that deaf children can succeed is that they are, obviously, taught by very skilled teachers, who can adapt teaching methodologies and materials to accommodate individual strengths and needs. Again — I have reflected on this before in many other speeches — the earlier the intervention, the better the educational outcomes in the end. A further aspect that I noticed when I was preparing this research is that deaf children can achieve better academic results when teachers and families have high expectations of those children. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. Helen Ferguson, who is the head of policy and influencing at the National Deaf Children's Society, said:

"Children’s expectations are being limited unnecessarily. Teachers and ... parents have a lot of assumptions ... about jobs that deaf young people can and can’t do. There are deaf doctors, deaf pilots, deaf people working in construction, there are a whole range of jobs open to deaf people. We need to raise expectations, encourage children to follow their passions and not be bound ... by any assumptions."

Northern Ireland has certain advantages over the rest of the UK. It has one single, unified sensory service, which is located within the EA. As has been noted, however, availability of support can be patchy across the Province. I recognise the excellent work done in this field by the previously referenced National Deaf Children's Society, which supports all the deaf children in Northern Ireland and their families. A number of other local organisations work in this area. Action Deaf Youth recently came to my son's school to highlight communication methods with deaf or hearing-impaired children. The read-out that I got was that the session was "really good". I thank every teacher of the deaf in Northern Ireland who works with those amazing children and their families. Today, your work has not gone unnoticed — you are having a really significant impact on children's lives. I welcome the chance to speak in the debate. It seems that the Chamber is wholly united in its support for deaf children and their families.

493 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:25 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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