Information Sheets

Enabling Effective Communication Between Hearing and Deaf / Deafened / Deafblind / Hard of Hearing People

Introduction

There are approximately 9 million deaf people in the UK, which is around 15% of the population. There are approximately 75,000 people in the UK who use British Sign Language (BSL) as their first language. Deaf People can often miss out on the chance to find out about and take part in what is happening, because their communication needs are not met, particularly in relation to sign language interpretation.

Disabled People and the Right to Health Care

Background: There has been much attention recently in the media about disabled people’s right to terminate medical treatment and/or end their lives. However information about how disabled people can challenge refusals by health professionals to provide treatment has been missing from these debates.

This factsheet tries to redress this balance by informing people about their right to treatment and explaining some of the more technical terms used by health staff, which can often be confusing.

Lobbying Your Councillor

Many individual people and organisations have issues they would like to take to their local Councillor or MP.  This is often referred to as lobbying. This information sheet gives some ideas for how you can get your point across.

There are four ways to lobby: by post, by phone, in person and on-line.

Terminology and Language

What is Personal Assistance?

Personal assistance is the support a disabled person needs from another person for everyday living.  The important aspect of personal assistance is that the disabled person chooses who will assist and how that assistance will be given.

Examples of tasks a personal assistant (PA) may assist with are:

• Shopping, cooking, cleaning, laundry, ironing

• Personal tasks such as eating, washing, dressing

• Guiding, reading, carrying or moving items