What’s Look, smile, chat?
Thousands of deaf teenagers have told us that improving friends’ understanding of deafness and ways to communicate is really important to them.
More than three in four (77 percent) teenagers who have not met a deaf person before told us that they have no idea how to communicate with them.
We want to improve this! Our Young People’s Advisory Board have created an exciting new campaign, called Look, Smile, Chat to reach hearing teenagers and help break down the communication barriers that can make socialising and school life tough for some deaf young people.
Watch Jake and Vilma’s video (below) to find out more about the campaign and why it is so important.
Watch more exciting Look, smile, chat films!
Jake says: “There are 45,000 deaf young people in the UK. Every deaf young person is different. Some speak, some sign and some use both signing and speaking. But we face the same thing every day: communicating with different people. Sometimes it goes well, sometimes it’s difficult because people don’t know what to do. That is why we are doing this campaign.”
We really hope that you and your school will get involved and help us to break down the communication barriers experienced by deaf young people. Remember, simple things can make a huge difference.
You can put up around your school or in youth clubs to spread the word, please check with a teachers before you do. Remember: simple steps can make a big difference!
Lesson plans for your teachers
You can download and share the lesson plans with your teachers. They have lots of useful information, fun quizzes and activities.