Mental Health and social inclusion.

It is estimated that, in Great Britain, one in ten children and young people aged 5-16 have a mental disorder that is associated with ‘considerable distress and substantial interference with personal functions’, such as family and social relationships, their capacity to cope with day to day stresses and life challenges and their learning.

Research has found that deaf children are four times more likely to experience mental health concerns.

Language and communication delay will limit deaf children’s social skills and interpersonal skills with obvious implications for their emotional well-being.

NDCS believes that deaf children experience a higher risk of psychological, behavioural and emotional problems.  However, deafness in itself is not a risk factor for increased mental health difficulties…The most common factors are the lack of access to language and communication, reduced opportunities for fluent two-way interaction, limited access to incidental learning, a partial understanding of what is happening around them and difficulties in forming and maintaining relationships with others; including within their family.

Good language and effective communication skills are fundamental skills for life, and acquiring them is time-limited - children are 'hard-wired' to learn language as toddlers.  Without language, communication can break down.  With Cued Speech all the simple things you say to a two year old (eg ‘if you put your coat on we can go to the park’) can help them make sense of the word.

The advice of the Cued Speech Association UK - based on years of experience with parents and professionals - is: 

‘Don’t delay in giving full access to English, don’t wait to see if they are going to they fail, and don’t wait (for more than a few months) because they ‘will use their implant soon’.

‘Don’t believe anyone if they tell you that delayed language is OK for a deaf child – it may be common, but it’s entirely avoidable and should never happen.  Use CS now and if they thrive, if they have entirely age-appropriate language and can understand you all the time without speech-reading – use it less.  In time, maybe they will only need it occasionally, and you will have avoided becoming one of the parents who tell us they wish they’d used CS earlier.'

‘When parents of deaf babies learn to cue and use it as they talk naturally with their child they, like hearing children, can learn full language easily and naturally.'

‘With Cued Speech deaf children can join in with the rest of the family and with unambiguous communication, parents can be effective parents.  With an understanding of English deaf children can more easily speech read and communicate in English with people who don’t cue.’

Ruth Campbell, Ph.D. (Professor Emeritus, Department of Cognitive, Perceptual and Brain Sciences, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London