The National Deaf Children's Society (NDCS) is a British charity dedicated to providing support, information and advice for
deaf
Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...
children and young people, their families and professionals working with them.
The Society campaigns for improvements in services aimed at families with deaf children, working with central and local government, health authorities, education professionals, social services, manufacturers and other voluntary organizations. Its headquarters are located in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, with regional offices in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
,
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...
(NDCS Northern Ireland),
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
(NDCS Wales) and
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
(NDCS Scotland).
Origins
NDCS was founded as the Society of
St John of Beverley and was renamed the Deaf Children's Society in 1945. It adopted its current name in the 1950s. At its established its objective was 'to further in every way possible the provision of full modern education for all deaf children in England, as originally accorded to hearing children'.
The National Deaf Children's Society was founded in London on 15 December 1944 by a handful of parents of deaf children concerned about the impact of the
1944 Education Act on their schooling.
2002 saw the merger of NDCS with Friends for Young Deaf People, resulting in the creation of the NDCS youth wing. The merger allows NDCS to provide a service supporting families with deaf children from birth to 25.
See also
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Audism
Audism as described by deaf activists is a form of discrimination directed against deaf people, which may include those diagnosed as deaf from birth, or otherwise. Tom L. Humphries coined the term in his doctoral dissertation in 1975, but it di ...
, discrimination against Deaf and hard-of-hearing people
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National Association of the Deaf (NAD)
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IFHOHYP International Federation of Hard of Hearing Young People
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Post-lingual deafness
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Pre-lingual deafness
Prelingual deafness refers to deafness that occurs before learning speech or language. Speech and language typically begin to develop very early with infants saying their first words by age one. Therefore, prelingual deafness is considered to occur ...
*
Royal National Institute for Deaf People
The Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), known as Action on Hearing Loss from 2011 to 2020, is a charitable organization working on behalf of the UK's 9 million people who are deaf or have hearing loss.
History
The Royal National I ...
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Youth hearing conservation programs
References
{{Authority control
Children's charities based in the United Kingdom
Deaf culture in the United Kingdom
Deafness charities
Deafness organizations
Health charities in the United Kingdom
Health in the London Borough of Islington
1944 establishments in the United Kingdom
Organisations based in the London Borough of Islington
Organizations established in 1944