Teresa attending the National Deaf Children Society’s parliamentary event at Speaker’s House on Wednesday 10th January.
Teresa Pearce has called upon Bexley Council to help more than 200 deaf children living in the borough.
Bexley is one of 54% of councils in England which is not funding radio aids which help deaf children in the early years develop language skills at a faster rate. Councils have been allocated funding through the Special Provision Capital Fund which could be used to offer these radio aids and Teresa has written to the council asking them to provide this facility.
Recent research from the National Deaf Children’s Society shows that they have significant benefits for deaf children in the home, in cars and outdoors, particularly during the early years when language development is at a critical phase.
Speaking about the issue, Teresa Pearce MP said:
“There are more than 200 deaf children across Bexley. It is fantastic to learn about the incredible support on offer to them, and I hope our local authority will take advantage of this brilliant new scheme that can make such a profound difference to so many of their lives.”
National Deaf Children’s Society research has shown that using radio aids at home is key for increasing conversations between parents and deaf children under-5 in noisy environments. When a radio aid is used in a family car, conversations with a deaf child increased by 144%, and when outdoors by 88%.”
