4b. Emotional and mental health

Deaf Children and Young People (DCYP) and their families

• are supported to have a positive view of their/their child’s deafness
• develop an awareness of accessibility within different contexts resulting in isolation or exclusion
• are given opportunities to be in contact with other families and DCYP and their families
• know about the range of support groups available
• know about local and national resources for DCYP and their families
• develop their sense of self and deafness as part of who they are
• are supported to develop their awareness of what good mental health looks like and some potential difficulties associated with deafness
• are supported to explore feelings around successes and perceived failures
• are supported to explore potential areas of difficulty, eg transition and how to approach these
• develop appropriate vocabulary for expressing feelings
• are signposted to the relevant sources of support and organisations regarding mental health.

Suggested resources

• Books with deaf characters – BATOD website
• NDCS – What are you feeling?
• National Deaf Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (NDCAMHS) Deaf Children and Mental Health Services
• The Hanen Centre – “Tuning In” to Others: How Young Children Develop Theory of Mind
• smiLE therapy
• NDCS Healthy Minds workshop links
• NDCS Maintaining young people’s deaf identity
• Hearing Like Me – How I discovered my deaf identity
• Deaf Unity – Deaf Identity: Finding yourself 
• Molly Watt Trust  – Raising Awareness of Usher Syndrome
• NDCS – Talking to teenagers about feelings
• NDCS – Connecting families
• The Deaf health charity – SignHealth
• Deaf studies curriculum examples – BATOD website
• ELSA (emotional literacy support assistant)
• PATHS (Promoting alternative thinking strategies)
• Barnardo’s Education Community (BEC)

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4a. Social health

Next pages

4c. Physical health

4d. Technology and staying safe

Previous sections

Section 1  Deaf identity

Section 2 Communication, language, and literacy

Section 3 Understand access to sound

Next sections

Section 5  Manage change

Section 6  Preparation for adulthood

Section 7 Specialist assessment and monitoring