Deaf and Hearing Impaired

There are nearly nine million deaf and hard of hearing people over the age of 16 in the UK, with over 8 million of those with mild to moderate deafness and nearly 700,000 with sever to profound deafness. The Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) and the wider D/deaf community commonly use the following definitions to describe deafness:

• Mild deafness
  If you have mild deafness it can cause some difficulty following speech, mainly in noisy situations. The quietest sounds you can hear are 25 to 39 decibels.
• Moderate deafness
  People with moderate deafness may have difficulty following speech without a hearing aid and find the quietest sounds you can hear are 40 to 69 decibels.
  There are over 8 million people with mild
• Severe deafness
  People with severe deafness rely a lot on lipreading, even with a hearing aid, as the quietest sounds you can hear are 70 to 94 decibels. BSL may be your first or preferred language.
• Profound deafness
  The quietest sounds that profoundly deaf people can hear average 95 decibels or more. BSL may be your first or preferred language but some people prefer to lipread.

You can contact Disability and Learner Support at any time during your course if you need support or information relating to deafness.

You can also be supported in applying for Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA). The DSA helps provide funding for BSL interpreters, note takers, language support tutors, equipment and other support. For more information about DSA please contact us via email at disability@salford.ac.uk.