It’s quite likely that if you are a deaf person who has grown up in Cumbria you will have attended a mainstream school in the county. You may have been the only deaf child in your school and it’s quite likely that you did not know any deaf adults. Over 90% of deaf children in the U.K. attend mainstream schools and experience difficulties in communication. This can lead to feelings of frustration and isolation at school that carries on into adult life. Here are some quotes from the deaf young people and adults from Cumbria:

“College didn’t do much for me. I told mum and dad I was struggling to cope – I felt a bit left out and vulnerable. The other lads would set me up ‘cos I didn’t know what was going on. It was the most difficult part of my career”

“I felt very depressed when I was 16. I told my dad that I wouldn’t get anywhere, I would never get a car or a girlfriend or a job” College was a bad time……I left school and came into the hearing world – didn’t have a lot of confidence. When I went to college on my own I felt scared to speak out- people thought I was thick – not that I just didn’t have any confidence”.

“I had few friends and was pretty miserable. I hit rock bottom the final day of the first year when a boy wrote something about me and read it out to the class. I had to take that away for the whole of the summer”

These feeling are not unusual but are sometimes very difficult to explain to a hearing person who will never have the experience of being deaf in a hearing world.

The Deaf Ex-mainstreamers group is an independent organisation with deaf members who have attended mainstream schools. They campaign for young people who attend mainstream schools to develop a positive deaf identity by encouraging good support and the teaching of Sign Language in schools. Link to:-
www.dex.org.uk

They have edited a book of individuals' experiences that makes very interesting reading: “Between a Rock and a Hard Place” Ed; Deaf Ex-Mainstreamers Group, 2003, Biddle, U.K.

British Sign Language is an official language recognised by the U.K. government since 2003. Here are some comments by young people and adults who attended mainstream schools in Cumbria:

“I would like to learn Sign Language because it is a fantastic skill to have. Not only deaf people benefit from it but when people get older and turn deaf after years of good hearing …it would be hard to communicate if they haven’t mastered the basics of Sign Language or lip reading.”

“I learnt to sign when I was 16. I found it one of the most relaxing courses of all time and I wish I had done it earlier. There needs to be more recognition for the language”

“It was hard to pick up as an adult – I regret not having learnt as a child. I struggled through university, it wasn’t an easy ride ‘cos my English was not good and Sign Language was hard”

Cumbria Deaf Association offers British Sign Language classes at various sites around Cumbria (www.cumbriadeaf.co.uk)