NDCS

The National Deaf Children’s Society has stepped in to support deaf children and their families who had previously been receiving auditory verbal therapy through the charity Auditory Verbal UK (AVUK), which closed in May 2026. AVUK provided specialist auditory verbal therapy to support listening, speech and language development for deaf children. Auditory verbal therapy is an early-intervention approach for deaf children aged 0 to 5 to develop spoken language.

There’s a lot of new terminology in the Governments new proposals for SEND - but what does it really mean for your child day to day? In our last blog, we looked at when changes might happen and the focus on inclusion in schools. In this blog, we’re breaking down the proposed new levels of SEN support so you can understand what they could mean in practice.

If you’ve been hearing about changes to SEND and wondering what they mean for your child, you’re not alone. We’ve reviewed the proposals in detail and spoken directly with the Department for Education and Ministers. There’s a lot to cover, so this is the first in a short series where we’ll explore what the changes may mean in practice for deaf children. When will things change? The first thing to say is that nothing is changing right now – and won’t for some time.

The National Deaf Children’s Society has cautiously welcomed the Government’s £1.8 billion commitment to fund specialist staff to support mainstream schools, saying it could make a “real difference” for deaf children - but only if it leads to a significant increase in qualified Teachers of the Deaf. As part of its Schools White Paper, Every Child Achieving and Thriving, the UK Government has announced a new “Experts at Hand” service, backed by £1.8 billion over three years.

The National Deaf Children's Society has welcomed the publication of an independent review, published today, which sets out a series of recommendations to fix England’s broken children’s hearing services. The Kingdon Review was commissioned by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, the Rt Hon Wes Streeting MP, after a series of catastrophic failures were uncovered in paediatric audiology services in some areas of England.

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Get involved your way! Fundraise, volunteer, or join an event. Fundraising events Discover fun and impactful ways to fundraise for deaf children – run, cycle, skydive or plan your own event. Every effort helps break down barriers. Do your own fundraising Host your own fundraiser and support deaf children – bake, quiz, celebrate or create your own event with our tips, tools and free resources.

We know how important it is for deaf children, young people and their families to get the right support, from the right professionals, at the right time. Importantly, this includes support from ToDCYPs who can provide expert help and advice for deaf children and their families from birth, through early years, primary school and post-primary education.

Deaf children across Scotland are still falling through the cracks and missing out on vital support despite two years passing since a damning report laid bare the inadequacies of NHS Scotland’s audiology services, the National Deaf Children’s Society is warning. Today marks two years to the day that the Independent Review of Audiology Services in Scotland (IRASS), identified “multiple systemic problems” in NHS Scotland’s hearing services for both children and adults.

Why we’ve evolved our brand Every moment counts in supporting deaf children. Our bold visual identity and tone of voice will help us reach families as early as possible and give them support from the start. During research, we found that many parents of children with mild, moderate or one-sided deafness did not think we could support them. Our new messaging will show that we’re here for every deaf child, with any level of hearing loss.