The Irish Deaf Society (IDS) is the national representative organisation of the

Deaf community 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 ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It upholds the status of Irish Sign Language (ISL), which is the first and preferred language of Deaf people in Ireland. The Society, a growing and vital organization, provides a number of specific health, personal and social services to deaf adults, children and their families. The IDS is recognised by the

World Federation of the Deaf The World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) is an international non-governmental organization that acts as a peak body for national associations of Deaf people, with a focus on Deaf people who use sign language and their family and friends. WFD aims ...

and The European Union of the Deaf,

non-governmental organisation A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...

s that represent National Associations of the Deaf at the world and

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

levels.

Purpose

The IDS seeks to enhance the

standard of living Standard of living is the level of income, comforts and services available, generally applied to a society or location, rather than to an individual. Standard of living is relevant because it is considered to contribute to an individual's quality ...

and

quality of life Quality of life (QOL) is defined by the World Health Organization as "an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards ...

for all Deaf people. The Society recognizes that the Deaf have traditionally faced the threats of poverty, limited employment opportunities, and other difficulties because of the lack of public understanding or appreciation for their essential needs. Therefore, their

mission statement A mission statement is a short statement of why an organization exists, what its overall goal is, the goal of its operations: what kind of product or service it provides, its primary customers or market, and its geographical region of operation ...

reads:

References

External links

* http://www.deaf.ie (Irish Deaf Society website) {{Authority control Deafness organizations 1981 establishments in Ireland Organizations established in 1981 Organisations based in Dublin (city) Deaf culture in Ireland Seanad nominating bodies

Purpose

See also

References

External links