Paola Brolis shares useful social care information for parents of deaf children (BSL)

My husband and I are hearing parents to our Deaf daughter Everly. Our daughter has BSL as first language. This means, as many of you know, that she is unable to access events due to lack of BSL interpreters.

Our government has a duty of care towards our children, and so today I want to share some helpful information that I had the luck to be given from another hearing mum of a deaf child. (If you are reading this, thank you!

So – I was told that as Deafness is legally a disability, Deaf children are entitled to have a social care assessment under ‘section 17’.

What is a ‘section 17’?

Under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989, a child is defined as “in need” if:

• They are unlikely to achieve or maintain a reasonable standard of health or development without the provision of services by a local authority;
• Their health or development is likely to be significantly impacted without such services;
• Or they are disabled.

Please note, this is separate from an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). Many people think it’s the same but it’s not and the reason why is that because this is not an education issue. It’s a social care one.

Think about zoo visits, museums, theatre performances – how do Deaf children access those? What about events that are local to you, organised by your council?

Our daughter’s development and mental health will be severely impacted if she’s unable to access events in society.

However, when I first called to request an assessment under section 17, I was asked why I was doing so.

I explained it was because my 4 year old daughter needs access to social events through BSL and I was told that ‘at that age, it’s parents expectation to fulfil her needs’

I explained that we have a language barrier. We, as a family, are learning BSL but it takes time and we are not interpreters. We are also her parents and we need to parent her when we attend an event and we cannot do that if we need to attempt to translate.

In fact, dismissing a child’s rights to communication support on the grounds of “parental responsibility” is not only unlawful but discriminatory. It fails to acknowledge the structural and linguistic barriers we face as a family.

It took a very detailed and law terminology heavy email to get a second call, this time agreeing to carry out an assessment but ‘this doesn’t mean she will get a direct payment’

What we asked for is a care plan with a direct payment that allows us to pay for a CSW or a BSL interpreter to accompany us to social events and make them accessible to our daughter.

Please note: this is separate from the DLA (Disability Living Allowance), which aims to cover the extra costs associated with having a disability, whether it’s for personal care (getting dressed, manage medications etc) or for help with getting around.

Two months later, after several home and pre-school visits, hard scrutiny on our family life, family and community support, and me scouting CSW and interpreters quotes (because the council didn’t know where to find interpreting agencies) – it was finally agreed that Everly could have a temporary direct payment, covering the summer holidays, and for 4 hours A WEEK.

It has been a challenging time for us as a family, fighting for Everly’s rights (once again!) and working with a system that doesn’t understand – or cares to provide the support needed.

The support shouldn’t be ‘temporary’ and frankly, should be a given right especially that society is not accessible to Deaf children.

The agreement however, means that as a family, we can attend one event a week (for 4 hours maximum!) where Everly can have language access to. Given that CSW’s or interpreters have a minimum requirement of 3 hours per booking this isn’t enough.

Is this something we should have to fight for? No.

Is this information easy to find? No.

Do professionals supporting parents give you this information? No.

This has been clear to us from the day our daughter was born. And so we are fighting for her rights and we will continue to do so. During this journey, I will also be sharing all the useful information I can get with you.

A social care assessment will assess your child’s needs, which are very specific to them.

If your deaf child has hearing technology and their preferred method of communication is speaking, that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be entitled to have an assessment.

They are by law, under the Children Act 1989. If you believe your child needs social care support, you are entitled to request one to your council.

If you need support, the National Deaf Children Society can help with that: https://www.ndcs.org.uk/contact-us

I hope our experience is useful to you!

By Paola Brolis 

Paola is a hearing mum raising her Deaf daughter Everly with her hearing husband Stef. Paola is passionate about advocating for her daughter, learning BSL and spreading Deaf awareness. You can find Paola documenting her BSL journey with Everly here.