UK's Big Society..

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Doesn't want to include the deaf.   Thousands of deaf people are socially excluded because of a lack of adequate services for UK sign language users, campaigners say. (What is the Big Society ?).
Up to 70,000 people, many of whom cannot lip-read or have poor English skills, use British Sign Language (BSL) as their first language. But half of them leave doctors’ appointments feeling confused because of the poor quality, or absence, of interpreters, research suggests.  (Read Byddar Cymru to read the almost total exclusion of deaf people in Wales to Health checks and hospitals).

Action on Hearing Loss has called for improvements in healthcare access and standards for the hearing impaired. A survey by the charity, formerly the Royal National Institute for Deaf People, found that half of BSL users left medical appointments confused. “We are talking about vital information on medication or even traumatic diagnoses,” said Helen Arber, the charity’s head of capacity development.

It also wants the Government to set a minimum standard for communication for deaf people throughout society. Of the 10 million Britons who have some form of hearing loss, more than 800,000 are severely or profoundly deaf. “There is still a huge way to go to ensure any kind of level playing field for them,” Ms Arber added.
“We are proud citizens but we are treated as lesser citizens,” said Jeff McWhinney, a former head of the British Deaf Association, who campaigned for the formal recognition of BSL as a language.
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