When Scarlet Davies first saw deaf actor Rose Ayling-Ellis on Strictly Come Dancing , she felt inspired. “Rose has had such a massive impact on young people,” said the 15-year-old, who is also deaf. A survey of deaf children and their families by the National Deaf Children’s Society also found that Ayling-Ellis’s visibility led to two-thirds of deaf children feeling more confident about wearing their hearing aids, with seven in 10 saying they felt happier talking about their own deafness. Interest in learning BSL has now exploded, thanks to Strictly, with some teaching centres reporting waiting lists for BSL courses. Martin McLean, senior policy advisor at the National Deaf Children’s Society, said Ayling-Ellis’s winning run “helped put paid to lots of misconceptions about deaf people”, which “has meant a huge amount to deaf children and young people everywhere”.

Source: The Guardian December 25, 2021 17:16 UTC