Welcome to our dedicated resource for our Motivating & Inspiring Young Deaf Learners Project. Here you will find a whole host of information on our brand new, lottery funded project, and details on how you can get involved and make a difference to the young deaf community.
Empowering and Supporting Young Deaf Learners
Following a recent Deaf Learners Conference, we discovered that although the number of disabled students in higher education has increased in the past 6 years, the same cannot be said for young deaf students. Fears of communication issues, lack of support and inaccessible study resources, are driving young deaf learners away from Further and Higher Education. As a result they are missing out on life-changing career opportunities and future success.
At Deaf Unity we wanted to step in and make a difference. Our £9,000 lottery-funded Motivating & Inspiring Young Deaf Learners Project focuses on developing a support structure to encourage and facilitate young deaf learners to enter further and higher education. The support structure will use our Deaf Alumni, who have succeeded in further and higher education (FHE) and who have received specialised mentoring training. Our alumni will work alongside young learners, mentoring them and developing a culture of encouragement and celebration of achievement.
Another reason why young deaf students do not pursue higher education is because they often set their aims too low. Many are confused about the support available. Our project seeks to empower these young deaf students, whilst building a framework of Community Support. Our Alumni also benefit from gaining valuable skills that strengthen and enhance their career prospects. Best of all, they know that they have given back and are working to break down barriers faced by the Community.
Click here if you’re a deaf learner and want to find out more about taking part in our Motivating & Inspiring Young Deaf Learners project.
If you’d like to take part as a mentor, please contact project manager, Alasdair directly (alasdair.grant@deafunity.org) to express your interest.
What The Project Involves
Our Motivating & Inspiring Young Deaf Learners project consist of 3 exciting phases:
- Deaf Alumni Recruitment & Training – Recruiting mentors and providing free training days. These are taking place in London (21st March 2016) and Bristol (11th April 2016).
- Regional Information Days – Holding talks and events for young deaf learners to dispel many of the myths of studying at Further and Higher levels. Taking place in April 2016.
- Extended Support – 40 young deaf learners will be paired with one of our trained mentors to receive focused and continued support whilst applying and transition to Further and Higher Education.
Read the full project schedule.
Deaf Unity, CEO Abdi Gas:
“Deaf Unity is proud to announce another innovative activity.”