Sign inDeafness
UK sources of information and / or support
Main umbrella groups include:
British Deaf Association
A resource for Deaf people that reflects every aspect of Deaf culture and provide a global space for Deaf people to share ideas and experiences.
National Association of Deafened People
A major organisation in the United Kingdom that caters for people who, through accident or illness, have lost most or all of their useful hearing.
National Deaf Children's Society
The UKs only charity solely dedicated to supporting all deaf children and their families. Impartial sources of information, advice and advocacy with a national network of offices, local groups and representatives.
Action on Hearing Loss
Action on Hearing Loss, the new name for the Royal National Institute For Deaf People (RNID), offers a range of services for people who are deaf or hard of hearing and provide information and support on all aspects of deafness, hearing loss and tinnitus.
Check Your Hearing
An on-line hearing check provided by Action on Hearing Loss that can be taken online, over the phone, or with an app if you have an iPhone.
Scottish Council on Deafness
The national co-ordinating body for voluntary and statutory organisations which cater for a wide range of needs of Deaf Sign Language users, deafened, deafblind and hard of hearing people, their families, carers and professionals working with them.
Wales Council for Deaf People
The Wales Council for Deaf People is a registered charity and the major voluntary body in Wales concerned with deafness. It is an umbrella association of organisations, both voluntary and statutory, working in the field of hearing loss and representing people who are deaf, deafened, hard of hearing and deafblind.
Deafness and Hearing Impairment
Information from the Department of Health.
Other sites and organisations
British Deaf Sports Council
The British Deaf Sports Council provide support, coaching and the opportunity for competition for deaf sports people in Britain.
Deaf4Life
Deaf4Life is a forum which provides an opportunity to share news, information and encouragement for both the deaf and their carers.
Deaf247
Deaf resource point on the internet for everything you ever need!
DeafClub UK
Very comprehensive internet search site on deafness including BSL, chat rooms, equipment, publications and jobs.
Deafax
Based at the University of Reading, Deafax is involved in helping deaf and hearing people develop their communication and literacy skills using technology and other methods. <
Deaf Essential Access Forum
Deaf Essential Access Forum mission's is to address a wide range of new and far reaching issues affecting local services users who are deaf and hard of hearing.
Deaf Education Through Listening and Talking (DELTA)
Helps families which want their severely or profoundly deaf children to learn to listen and talk. Teachers and other professionals can also find useful information on the site.
DeafPlus
Aims to develop innovative work with deaf and hearing people which enables them to improve their quality of life through contact, information and training.
Deafsign.com
Major resource on sign language
Deafness Research UK
A major UK charity dedicated to helping hearing impaired people through medical research and education. Their website also has information leaflets on a range of topics.
ENT UK
The British Association of Head and Neck Surgeons provides patient information on hearing and deafness.
Elizabeth Foundation
A voluntary organisation for deaf babies, pre school children from 0-5 years and their parents. Aims to promotes and facilitate the early detection of deafness and to follow the diagnosis with the best intervention, support, teaching and guidance for both parent and child.
HEAR - Help Ear and Allied Research
HEAR is working with Manchester Royal Infirmary in the treatment of severe to profound deafness.The charity is also working to develop CI technology which is designed for the auditory rehabilitation of a specific small group of totally deaf individuals.HEAR is also involved with new programmes looking at the effectiveness of semi-implantable and totally implantable hearing aids.
Hearing Dogs For Deaf People
Trains carefully selected dogs to alert severely, profoundly or totally deaf people to everyday sounds which hearing people may take for granted.
I CAN
National educational charity for children with speech and language difficulties. I CAN's vision is to help create a society where the special needs of these children are recognised, understood and met, allowing them to have the same opportunities in life as other children.
Link Centre
The LINK Centre is for deafened people - people who have grown up with normal or near-normal hearing, then for one reason or another lost all or most of it during adult life.
Sequal Trust
Fundraises on behalf of its members to provide a communication aid, which can be in the form of a specialised computer system, voice synthesiser to relay pre-recorded messages, and many other items of communication equipment.
Sign - The National Society for Mental Health and Deafness
The country's principal provider of services for deaf people with mental health problems.
SignTranslate
Provides instant help for deaf people communicating with medical staff via their on-line interpreting service - a live web-cam link to qualified British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters.
Speech Language and Hearing Centre
For babies and children aged under 5 who have hearing impairment or delay in speech, language and communication.
UK Council on Deafness
The UK Council on Deafness is the national infrastructure organisation for voluntary sector organisations working with deaf people.[
UK Deaf Sports
UK Deaf Sport aims to enable Deaf people to benefit from, excel at and fulfil their potential through sport of their own choosing. The website holds information on past and future events as well as support and advice.
Hearing tests
Information from NHS Choices - the government's patient information portal.
Hearing impairment
Information from NHS Choices - the government's patient information portal.
See also the Patient UK hearing aids, cochlear implants and deafblind directory pages and the the self help and support group deafness / hearing problems category.
Further sources / more detailed information
Some non-UK sites
The following list popular non-UK health information sites with content aimed at the general public. They are mainly from the US. They have not been checked to see if information about the above topic is included but these large sites are comprehensive.
- Non-UK disease / illness sites
- Non-UK self-help / support group sites
More detailed medical information
The following list online sources of more detailed medical information, mainly from the UK. These sites are mainly aimed at health professionals, but are of interest to all. They have not been checked to see if information about the above topic is included, but information about most medical topics can usually be found.
- PatientPlus - hundreds of medical reference articles provided by Patient UK.
- Evidence Based Medicine - such as from Clinical Evidence, The Cochrane Library, etc.
- Database of UK Clinical Guidelines - from NICE, SIGN, etc.
- Medline - abstracts available from thousands of journals.
- Sites listing free online medical textbooks and journals.
- Sites listing free medical images - pictures, atlases, anatomy, skin diseases, etc.