Deafness

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.

 RNID - Royal National Institute For Deaf People

Support for Deaf people. Contains factsheets on a range of hearing related topics.

 RNID - Online Hearing Check

An on-line hearing check provided by The Royal National Institute for the Deaf.

 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.

Other sites and organisations

 Cambridge University Hospital

Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust provide a wide range of patient information leaflets including leaflets on audiology, hearing aid accessories and problems.

 Cochlear Implant Users Association (the National)

The NCIUA is the Association that represents all Cochlear Implant users in the United Kingdom. It is open to all implant users, their family and friends.

 Deaf247

Deaf resource point on the internet for everything you ever need!

 DeafClub UK

Very comprehensive internet search site on deafness including BSL, chatrooms, 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. <

 Deafblind UK's Scottish Website

Learn about Deafblind UK's work in Scotland, Guide/communicator service, Usher Syndrome Project in Scotland and Deafblind Manual.

 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 including:

• Hearing aids
• Tinnitus
• Glue ear
• Hyperacusis
• Noise and hearing impairment
• Hearing tests for babies
• Cochlear implants
• Deafness and ageing
• Cholesteatoma
• Otosclerosis
• Meningitis and deafness
• M‚niŠre's Disease
• Genetics and deafness
• Middle ear conditions
• Hair cell research
• Childhood deafness

 ENT UK

The British Assocation 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.

 Sense, The National Deafblind and Rubella Association

Sense, the world's largest organisation working with and campaigning for deafblind people, their families and professionals who work with them.

 Sense Scotland

Sense Scotland is part of the UK National Deafblind and Rubella Association and assists people who are deafblind, or who have sensory impairment and other difficulties who need special help with communication, information, learning and mobility.

 The Genetics of Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SNHL)

Information from the Northern Primary Care Genetics Webite which is primarily aimed at those working in primary care, however, they offer a patient information leaflet in this area.

 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.

 Signature

Signature promotes excellence in communication with deaf and deafblind people.

 Sign - The National Society for Mental Health and Deafness

The country's principal provider of services for deaf people with mental health problems.

 Speech Language and Hearing Centre

For babies and children aged under 5 who have hearing impairment or delay in speech, language and communication.

 Paget Gorman Society

A grammatical sign system which is used by many speech and language-impaired children, their parents, teachers, speech therapists and care staff.

 British Deaf Sports Council

The British Deaf Sports Council provide support, coaching and the opportunity for competition for deaf sports people in Britain.

 Deaf Forum

The Deaf Forum provides an opportunity to share news, information and encouragement for both the deaf and their carers.

 Deaf Studies Trust

The Deaf Studies Trust aims to improve communication and understanding in an attempt to enhance and improve the quality of deaf people's lives and their contribution to society.

 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.

 MIND

MIND, one of Britain's leading mental health charities provides a series of leaflets on the relationship between mental health and deafness.

See also the Patient UK pages on Hearing Aids and Cochlear Implants and the self help and support group directory for deafness.

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, Clinical Knowledge Summaries, 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.