Debate contribution: Support for Deaf Children

Debate contribution by Ms Kellie Armstrong on 21 October 2024.

MLA

Ms Kellie Armstrong

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

21 October 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Support for Deaf Children

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4604163

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I support the Ulster Unionist motion. I declare an interest as a Member who is part of the deaf community. I am hard of hearing and a double hearing-aid wearer. To all those who are watching today, I say, "Nothing about us without us". There is an urgent need to increase access to early and effective support for deaf children in Northern Ireland in order to enable them to achieve their potential. As the deaf-friendly schools guidance produced in 2022 confirms:

"Deafness is not a learning disability" —

other Members have also said that —

"and, given the right support, deaf children can make the same progress as hearing children of similar cognitive ability."

Many deaf children are, however, falling behind their peers and at high risk of poor mental health. There has never been a more important time to invest in effective early support to tackle the root cause of disadvantage. Early and effective support to develop language and communication is vital for all deaf children, whether they use spoken language, sign language or both. As others have said, around 1,400 children are deaf in Northern Ireland, and around 200 of those are under the age of five. Members may know that we have one of the best newborn hearing screening programmes in the world and access to state-of-the-art technology, mainly cochlear implants and hearing aids. Deaf children, however, are not achieving the outcomes that we know are possible, and we are not maximising the return on public investment in screening and technology. When deaf children have access to early and effective support, outcomes are transformed. By improving outcomes, we can unlock significant savings not only for Education but for the health and social care system and the wider economy. Furthermore, of course, that creates a better outcome for deaf and hard-of-hearing children. For deaf children whose families want them to learn, listen and speak, the benefits of auditory verbal therapy are clear. Approximately 80% of children who attend an auditory verbal therapy programme for at least two years achieve the same level of spoken language as their hearing peers. The majority of those children attend mainstream schools and attain educational outcomes that are on a par with those of hearing children. At present, there is little to no provision of auditory verbal therapy in health and social care services in Northern Ireland. However, we can change that by training speech and language therapists and teachers of the deaf in that approach. A number of years ago, I had the pleasure of visiting Jordanstown School, the Northern Ireland school and centre of excellence for children who are deaf or visually impaired. At a meeting at the school, it was confirmed that specialist training for teachers of the deaf had to be either self-funded by those teachers or paid out of the school's funds. That was a disgrace, and I worked hard on it. Thanks to the then Minister of Education, the issue was resolved and specialist teacher training is now funded and supported. Those teachers still have to go across to Liverpool, however, because there is no provision here. My hope is that, when the proposed sign language Bill is finally introduced by the Department for Communities, it will include legal clarity and requirements with regard to training for teachers of the deaf. It is important that there is clarity with respect to the future sign language GCSE.

Will that be taught by deaf people who have a teaching qualification, or will teachers have to complete a sign language qualification? If it is the latter, where will the training be held and what will it cost? Economic analysis has shown that an investment of £80,000 a year for the next 10 years is needed to train the required number of auditory verbal therapists and to support some of the most vulnerable children directly, as we build the workforce. That will not only transform opportunities and outcomes for deaf children in Northern Ireland but provide a significant economic return, estimated to be in the region of £4·5 million over the next 10 years. By investing in proactive therapy and inclusive teaching, we can ensure that families of deaf children are able to access support wherever they live in Northern Ireland. That will enable children who are deaf or hard of hearing to have the same life opportunities as their hearing peers. It would be useful to have clarification from the Minister of Education on what input his Department has had in the Department of Health's adult learning disability service model and children with disabilities framework. If Health has established a children's services reform process that includes children with a disability, how will Education be affected by Health's regional position and future commissioning?

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

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

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.

Disagree with this assessment?

Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.

Challenge this classification