One in seven (approximately 8.7million) people in the UK have some degree of hearing impairment, and may describe themselves as deaf, partially deaf, hard of hearing or deafened.
Hand gestures together with facial expression that communicate words and phrases
SSE is a combination of BSL signs with English grammar. Its structure is quite different from that of spoken language.
Some Deaf people communicate by lipreading, speech and Sign Supported English at the same time. Some use only lipreading.
Note-takers write down what is being said, usually in summary form. Note -takers are trained to take notes quickly and convey a legible, clear message. Palantype is a system using a note-taker who types the proceedings of a meeting or discussion onto a computer. The deaf person then reads the transcript off the screen.
An estimated 50,000 Deaf people in the UK use British Sign Language (BSL) as their first or preferred language. Some Deaf people in the UK use other Sign language such as Turkish or Urdu Sign Language, or a mix of BSL and other sign languages.
Some Deaf people rely on their residual hearing, and benefit from measures such as sitting where they can hear best or using an induction loop. A loop system enables a person with a hearing aid to hear sound much more loudly and clearly with background noise eliminated.
Messages are typed on a keyboard and transmitted down the phone line where they appear as a text message on the screen of the textphone at the other end.
Communication methods used by Deaf-Blind people vary greatly depending on individual choice and the amount of residual sight or hearing that a person may have.
Some people will use BSL, Braille or an induction loop. Others will use some form of tactile communication which involve one-to-one interpretation and include: the Deaf-Blind manual alphabet (sometimes called "finger spelling") based on the deaf manual alphabet where each word is spelt onto the deaf-blind person's hand; or the block alphabet, where an interpreter uses the tip of their forefinger to spell out each word in block capitals on the receiver's palm
