Deafness and me: A toolkit for early years practitioners

About this resource

Deaf babies and children encounter specific hurdles in communication and language that influence their relationships, learning, and overall well-being. By offering tailored support to both deaf and hearing peers, we can lay the groundwork for strong emotional and mental health, ensuring a solid foundation for their well-being.

The three areas we believe to be most important for deaf children and their families are:

• Sense of belonging and deaf identity

• Forming relationships and being social

• Understanding feelings and emotions

Our 'Deafness and me' toolkit aims to build understanding of the barriers that deaf children may experience and provide information and activities that can build positive mental health. The term ‘deaf’ is being used to refer to all types of hearing loss from mild to profound. This includes deafness in one ear or temporary hearing loss such as glue ear. The resource has been written by the National Deaf Children’s Society, whose vision is a world without barriers for every deaf child.

This resource should be used alongside our personal, social and emotional development (PSED) resources.

How to use this resource

You will be able to use some of these activities on an individual level with children and you can also work with your wider teams to embed activities into your settings' overall practice. The activities section of this toolkit is divided into three sections in line with the above three areas.

Looking for more early years advice?

You can view a selection of our early years resources here.