'It does matter': our public attitudes research

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There are at least 12 million deaf people and people with hearing loss in the UK. For the first time, our major new research has brought home the impact that negative attitudes and a lack of understanding are having on our communities in their daily lives.

Over the last year, two thirds of deaf people and people with hearing loss have experienced negative attitudes from others. More than a quarter say they are ignored in public by most people, and if they miss the conversation first time, millions are being dismissed and told ‘it doesn’t matter.’

We know that most people simply don’t know how to communicate with deaf people and people with hearing loss. Show that ‘It does matter’ with our top tips on how to include deaf people in the conversation. Simply pop your email address below for:

Tips on how to communicate with deaf people and people with hearing loss
Videos of common British Sign Language phrases you can learn and use
Small changes you can make to show ‘it does matter’, at home, in the workplace and out and about.

Public attitudes towards deaf people

Learn more from our communities about the negative attitudes they face in everyday life and how you can help. For a more in-depth look at these experiences, read our research report.

Sarah

Sarah talks about the general public’s difficulties in communicating with her, and how she hopes to be a positive role model for people from the black and deaf community.

Skye and her parents

Mike and Adele share how Skye’s hearing has brought the family closer, and public misconceptions about people who are deaf.

Shakib

When he was a child, Shakib had mumps and his hearing in his left ear deteriorated. He shares about navigating life before and after having a hearing aid.

Sheila

Sheila talks about the highs of being able to hear again with a hearing aid, the lows of isolation, and championing her son’s hearing loss journey.

An anonymous quote from our research survey:

“One of the worst things is when people say something I miss and when asked to repeat they say ‘oh it doesn’t matter’.

It probably didn’t matter to them at the time, but it makes me feel I don’t matter.”

Kori

Kori is a deaf spiritual life coach. Here she shares about how she found herself as a deaf person in a hearing world.

“It’s friends and family closest to me that seem to think it’s funny to make jokes of it or be impatient. Only one person close to me has ever asked how they can help me by communicating more clearly which is disappointing.”

‘It does matter’

Our research shows that many of us don’t feel sure about how to best communicate with deaf people and people with hearing loss. We can help. Sign up for our communication tips and BSL lessons today.

Receive our communication tips

Read our research report

Watch the ‘It does matter’ report in BSL

This graph shows the experiences of our communities when interacting with members of the general public in the last 12 months:

1. People being impatient with me:
People with hearing loss: 47%
Deaf people: 59%
BSL users: 58%

2. People talking to someone who is with me, rather than to me directly:
People with hearing loss: 33%
Deaf people: 61%
BSL users: 63%

3. People shouting or talking loudly at me:
People with hearing loss: 43%
Deaf people: 62%
BSL users: 50%

4. People making assumptions about how to communicate with me:
People with hearing loss: 19%
Deaf people: 38%
BSL users: 48%

5. People seeming uncomfortable around me:
People with hearing loss: 13%
Deaf people: 29%
BSL users: 54%

6. People patronising me:
People with hearing loss: 17%
Deaf people: 31%
BSL users: 35% — Percentage of our communities that have experienced negative attitudes
and behaviours in the last 12 months.

Our report takes an in depth look at the everyday experiences of our communities, the general public’s misconceptions around those experiences, and how we can make a better society for all.

To conduct this research, we surveyed 5,383 people who are deaf or have hearing loss and surveyed 2,768 of the general public.

Read the report

Watch the report in BSL