A Cardiff mum is trying to get more help for parents with deaf children and teenagers.
Siobhan Darian is working with the city’s Deaf Club to start a new group so they can have more contact with people who are deaf and find out what it means to be deaf.
They are launching Cardiff Deaf Creative Hands to create a place where hearing and deaf people can mix.
The plan is for families to gain support from each other and learn sign language together as a family. It’s also a way for parents with young deaf children to meet deaf teenagers and adults.
According to the UK Deaf Community, studies have shown that children who learn British sign language (BSL) at a young age are more likely to attend university and do better in school.
They say that 90% of deaf children are born to hearing parents and that many of these parents want to learn BSL to communicate with their children but this is not provided free to them.
Mrs Darian has a two year old deaf son, Nathaniel. She says: “Being a mum myself and speaking to other mums but also speaking to deaf teenagers, this bridge between the hearing and deaf community is so needed. A child that is left without cultural roots based on language acquisition can feel isolated, not belonging to any community – we want to present our children with language, love, culture, strength and a knowledge that they can be anything they want to be, being deaf is not a barrier to achievement with the relevant support.”
Siobhan with her son, Nathaniel
